: One Step Closer to Democracy With Historic Vote in Bahrain

Yeah, it’s a small country. Yeah, they still have a king. But Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa family for 200 years, took a step towards democratic rule last weekend, as had been promised back in February. The elections are being closely watched in the Gulf region – although that is difficult since the event is curiously absent from the papers in neighboring kingdoms. These elections mark the first time that women were empowered to both vote and run for national office anywhere in the Gulf (except for Iran, which already has several women MPs). The vote creates a new assembly with 40 members, 21 of whom were elected directly and the remainder will be decided in run-off elections. The elections were a success (over 50% of eligible voters turned out) despite a boycott called by Shi’a opposition (They complained that the new assembly has to share power with another one selected by the king. They have a point.) Both Islamists and liberal candidates won blocs of seats, with Islamist winners vowing to uphold the charter that made the vote possible. So what’s next for Bahrain? Well, the king plans to ride into the sunset toward a Britain-style monarchy, although power is hard to give up. And future generations of Bahrainis are going to be subjected to American-style election campaigns. Is it too late to re-write that charter?

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.