National Assembly (Bahrain)

{{Short description|Legislative body of Bahrain}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox legislature | name = National Assembly | native_name = المجلس الوطني البحريني | native_name_lang =ar | transcription_name =al-Majlis al-watani | legislature = | coa_pic = Coat of Arms of The Kingdom of Bahrain.svg | coa_res = 100px | coa_alt = | foundation =  | house_type = Bicameral | body = | houses = Consultative Council<br>Council of Representatives | leader1_type = Chairman of the Consultative Council | leader1 = Salim bin Rashid Al-Khalifa | party1 = | election1 = 15 December 2008 | leader2_type = Speaker of the Council of Representatives | leader2 = Ahmed bin Salman Al-Musallam | party2 = | election2 = 12 December 2022 | leader3_type = | leader3 = | party3 = | election3 = | members = '''80'''<br/>40 in the Consultative Council<br/>40 Representatives | house1 = Consultative Council | house2 = Council of Representatives | structure1 = Consultative Council (Bahrain) diagram.svg | structure1_res = 250px | structure1_alt = | structure2 = Consultative Council (Bahrain) diagram.svg | structure2_res = 250px | structure2_alt = | political_groups1 = {{Color box|#999999|border=silver}} Independent (40) | political_groups2 = {{Color box|#999999|border=silver}} Independent (40) | committees1 = | committees2 = | joint_committees = | voting_system1 = Appointed by the King | voting_system2 = Two-round system | last_election1 = | last_election2 = 12 November 2022 | previous_election1 = | previous_election2 = | session_room = | session_res = 250px | session_alt = | meeting_place = Manama | website = {{URL|http://www.shura.bh/en/}} | footnotes = | motto = }} {{Politics of Bahrain}}

The '''National Assembly''' ({{langx|ar|المجلس الوطني البحريني|translit=al-Majlis al-watani}}) is the bicameral legislative body<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AF5iAwAAQBAJ&q=bahrain+rubber+stamp+parliament&pg=PA322 |title=Democratization and Authoritarianism in the Arab World - Google Books |date=2014-04-17 |isbn=9781421414171 |access-date=2019-05-16|last1=Diamond |first1=Larry |last2=Plattner |first2=Marc F. |publisher=JHU Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQIXtU-EYN4C&q=bahrain+rubber+stamp+parliament&pg=PA236 |title=The Arab Revolts: Dispatches on Militant Democracy in the Middle East - Google Books |isbn=978-0253009685 |access-date=2019-05-16|last1=McMurray |first1=David A. |last2=Ufheil-Somers |first2=Amanda |year=2013 |publisher=Indiana University Press }}</ref> of Bahrain. It consists of the 40 elected members of the Council of Representatives (the lower house) and the 40 royally-appointed members of the Consultative Council (the upper house). The joint session of the National Assembly is chaired by the Speaker of the Council of Representatives, or by the Speaker of the Consultative Council if the former is absent.<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitute |url=https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Bahrain_2012.pdf?lang=en |website=www.constituteproject.org |access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref>

==Latest election== {{main|2022 Bahraini general election}}

==National Assembly under the 1973 constitution== Under the 1973 Constitution (Article 43), the National Assembly was a single chamber parliament consisting of forty members elected by "universal suffrage". However, the then Amir, Shaikh Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifah decreed that women would not be considered as "universal suffrage" and were not allowed to vote in the 1973 parliamentary elections.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hf.uib.no/smi/pao/khalaf.html |title=From ethnic to national and vice versa |access-date=2006-07-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716180006/http://www.hf.uib.no/smi/pao/khalaf.html |archive-date=2006-07-16 }}</ref>

==History of the National Assembly of Bahrain== {{Main|Bahraini parliamentary election, 1973}} The first ever National Assembly in Bahrain was elected in 1973 under the statutes of the first constitution which was promulgated of that same year. In 1975, the Assembly was dissolved by the then Emir Shaikh Isa ibn Salman al-Khalifa because it refused to pass the government sponsored State Security Law of 1974. The Emir subsequently did not allow the Assembly to meet again or hold elections during his lifetime.

After the death of Isa ibn Salman al-Khalifa in 1999, his son Shaikh Hamad ibn Isa al-Khalifah, the new ruler of Bahrain promulgated the Constitution of 2002. That same year elections were held for the Council of Representatives and he appointed the members for the Consultative Council, forming the first National Assembly since 1975.

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [http://www.nuwab.gov.bh/ Council of Representatives] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081119145620/http://www.shura.gov.bh/en Consultative Council] * 2002 Constitution: Section 3 The Legislative Authority National Assembly * 1973 Constitution: Chapter II Legislative Power

Category:National Assembly (Bahrain) Category:1973 establishments in Bahrain Bahrain Category:Government of Bahrain Bahrain