Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Dhahrani (; born 1942) is a Bahraini

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, who served as Speaker of the

Council of Representatives of Bahrain The Council of Representatives (''Majlis an-nuwab''), sometimes translated as the "Chamber of Deputies", is the name given to the lower house of the Bahraini National Assembly, the national legislative body of Bahrain. The council was created b ...

Early life

Khalifa Al Dhahrani was born in the town of

Riffa Riffa () is the second-largest city in the Kingdom of Bahrain in terms of area. The city is divided into three parts: , and . All three parts are located in the Southern Governorate. The city is growing fast: during the 2001 census, the p ...

, in central

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

, in 1942. He graduated from

Bahrain Petroleum Company The Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) is an integrated petroleum company that is the national oil company of Bahrain. It was founded in 1929 and discovered the first oil field in the Persian Gulf outside of Iran in 1932. Shipments of crude oil co ...

's Institute of Training and Occupational Development. Prior to his political career, he was a prominent businessman in the Bahraini community.

Political career

Al Dhahrani's political career began when he ran for and was elected as a member of Bahrain's first National Assembly in 1973. At age 31, he ran in the 20th constituency, at the time encompassing

, Jaww, Askar and Zallaq. He served as MP until 1975, when the emir of Bahrain

Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa (; 3 June 1933 – 6 March 1999) was a Bahraini royal who served as the first Emir of Bahrain from 1961 until his death in 1999 (after having previously ruled as Hakim of Bahrain until 16 August 1971). Bo ...

dissolved parliament. Al Dhahrani was later appointed to the

Shura Council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being b ...

in 1992 and served there until 2002. He was one of the architects who drew up the

National Action Charter of Bahrain The National Action Charter of Bahrain () is a document put forward by King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah of Bahrain in 2001 in order to end the popular 1990s Uprising and return the country to constitutional rule. It was approved in a national ref ...

in 2001, which led to the end of political unrest that plagued the country in the 1990s.

2002 election

Al Dhahrani served in the Shura Council until 2002, when a royal decree dissolved the council. Al Dhahrani later planned to run for MP in the newly formed lower house of parliament. Al Dhahrani ran as a candidate in the ninth district of the Central Governorate and was elected to parliament, having secured a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...

, after winning 90% of the vote. Within the council, he was elected as Speaker of parliament.

2006 election

Al Dhahrani was re-elected in the

2006 Bahraini general election General elections were held in Bahrain in November and December 2006 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives (Bahrain), Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was held on 25 November, with a second round on 2 ...

, retaining his constituency. He was also re-elected as Speaker. Al Dhahrani retained his post after Islamist party Al Wefaq's leader

Ali Salman Ali Salman Ahmed Salman () is a Bahraini Twelver Shi'ism, Twelver Shia Islam, Shi'a cleric and the Secretary-General of the Al Wefaq, Al-Wefaq political society. In January 1995, the Cabinet of Bahrain, Bahraini government forcibly exiled him to ...

indicated that he wanted to secure the post.
Gulf News

2010 election

For the third time, Al Dhahrani was re-elected in the

2010 Bahraini general election General elections were held in Bahrain in October 2010 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives (Bahrain), Council of Representatives. The first round of voting was held on 23 October, with a second round on 30 October. Amidst ...

in the same constituency and was also re-elected as Speaker for the third time.

2011 National Dialogue

In the aftermath of the 2011 unrest in Bahrain, the King of Bahrain,

Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa (born 28 January 1950) is King of Bahrain since 1999. He is a member of the ruling Al Khalifa dynasty. Early life and education Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was born on 28 January 1950 in Riffa, Bahrain. ...

ordered the formation of a national dialogue, which was to be headed by Al Dhahrani.

References

Speakers of the Council of Representatives (Bahrain) Members of the National Assembly (Bahrain) Bahraini Islamists Sunni Islamists Living people Bahraini Sunni Muslims 1942 births {{Bahrain-politician-stub