Wa'ad ready to contest

The president of the largest liberal party- Wa’ad National Democratic Action Society (NDAS), Ebrahim Sharif Alsayed believes that if they make it to the parliament they would deal with issues like land reclamation, oil depletion, housing problem and increasing the minimum wage of an individual.
A total of nine candidates would be contesting for the forthcoming elections from the society. Out of this six would contest for the parliament and three for the municipal election. The party believes in improving the status of women in the society.

“There should be quota system implemented where 10-15 per cent of the seats must be reserved for women candidates in the Municipal and the Parliament. This will help in creating leadership among the women and they will be treated at par with men. In our society, 20 percent of the leaders are women and by reserving seats for them it will boost their confidence.”
Ebrahim also praised Dr.Munira Fakroo who is a popular candidate among the women to contest for the elections. “ She is a very strong and seasoned lady who has witnessed the political scene in the kingdom and we will continue to support her. In addition to Dr.Munira, there will be one more women candidate that the society has chosen to contest for the elections."
The minimum wage fixed by the government for an individual is BD 200 but according to Ebrahim it needs to be increased. “About thirty-three thousand people are not able to earn the minimum wage. We would like to increase the minimum wage to BD 350, which is adequate for a family of five. Efforts will be made to improve the standard of living of the people and create better job opportunities with cooperation between the private and public sector.” He also stressed the bank statement, assets and property details of the people in power be made available to the press and public.


According to Ebrahim, natural resources like oil is depleting at an increasing rate and it needs to be tackled effectively. “The average share of oil a Bahraini citizen gets is 136 barrel per person and by 2020 the number will be reduced to a mere 50 barrel per person. There are mistakes that have occured in the decision making of these industries. The government owned industries are running in loss and this is drastically affecting our economy. The legal jurisdiction power of monitoring the entire matter is not done any more.”

It’s not only the oil that is depleting, but the reclamation of the land is done at a rapid pace. “ In 2004, eight and a half kilometer of land was reclaimed out of which five and a half kilometer was from Muharraq. The estimated value of the reclaimed land was about 600 million dollar and this was in the process leased out to the private sector. This can be stopped if there is transparency in land ownership.”
The dots are getting connected as the scarcity of land according to Ebrahim, in the last 40 years about seventy kilometers of land is reclaimed and still there is a problem of housing in the kingdom.” The number of applications of citizens waiting for housing in the beginning of 2002 was 32,000. The application stands close to 43,000 at the commencement of this year. The reason for the increase is because of naturalization as more families are added and housing is one of their main demands.


Most of the key players of the election are focusing on the naturalisation issue and the NDAS also has it in their agenda, “The government has added 5 per cent of naturalised people in the population. The natural growth of Bahrain will yield 26,000 additional voters combining it with another 10,000 who are added by reducing the voting age from 21 to 20. The total amounts to 36,000 and the number in the voter’s block are 52,000.There is a substantial increase of 16,000 naturalised individuals who will manipulate the elections.”

The Society president believes that the parliament has limited power and if their candidates get elected they would make a sea change of difference. They would encourage the role of community and tackle issue like subsidizing houses, equality of income, implementation of the taxation system and promote the spirit of national unity between the Sunni and Shiites in Bahrain.