Politics of Bahrain has since 2002 taken place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy where the government is appointed by the King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The head of the government since 2020 is Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who became Prime Minister following the death of Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, and who also serves as Deputy Commander of the Bahrain Defence Force. The parliament is a bicameral legislature, with the Council of Representatives elected by universal suffrage, and the Consultative Council appointed directly by the king.
Alees Thomas Samaan is a Bahraini politician and former ambassador to the United Kingdom. She was the first woman to chair a parliament in the Middle East when in April 2005 she chaired Bahrain's upper house of parliament, the Consultative Council. Samaan was one of four women to sit in the Consultative Council.
Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest court in Bahrain to be dissolved and liquidated. Although from 2006 to 2011 it was by far the single largest party in the Bahraini legislature, with 18 representatives in the 40-member Bahraini parliament, it was often outvoted by coalition blocs of opposition Sunni parties and independent MPs reflecting gerrymandering of electoral districts. On 27 February 2011, the 18 Al-Wefaq members of parliament submitted letters of resignation to protest regime violence against pro-reform Bahraini protestors.
Women face widespread discrimination within Bahraini society and the country's political institutions. Women's rights have been a cornerstone of the political reforms initiated by King Hamad. The extension of equal political rights has been accompanied by a conscious drive to promote women to positions of authority within government. However, women in Bahrain continue to face gender inequality in many areas of life.
The Consultative Council, also known as the Shura Council, is the upper house of the National Assembly, the main legislative body of Bahrain.
The Supreme Council for Women (SCW) is Bahrain's advisory body to the government on women's issues. It is chaired by Sheikha Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, the wife of Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The current Secretary General of SCW is Hala Al Ansari.
Ghada Jamshir is a Bahraini women's rights activist and an ardent campaigner for the reform of Sharia courts in Bahrain and the Arab States of the Persian Gulf. Jamshir heads the Women's Petition Committee lobbying for a law that would shift jurisdiction over family and women's affairs from Islamic Sharia court to civil courts.
Haya Rashed Al-Khalifa is a lawyer and diplomat from Bahrain. As ambassador to France 1999-2004 she became Bahrain's first ever female ambassador. She is one of the first women to practice law in Bahrain, and the third ever woman to preside at the UN General Assembly.
Houda Ezra Ebrahim Nonoo served as the Bahraini Ambassador to the United States from 2008 to 2013. She was appointed to the position by decree of Foreign Affairs Minister Khaled Ben Ahmad Al-Khalifa. Nonoo is the first Jew, and third woman, to be appointed ambassador of Bahrain. She is also the first Jewish ambassador of any Middle Eastern Arab country, and the first female Bahraini ambassador to the United States.
Bahraini Jews constitute one of the world's smallest Jewish communities, although its origins go back to late antiquity. Talmudic sources refer to ports and islands on the Persian Gulf, indicating that Jews may have already settled in this region. Arabic sources record Jews in the old capital of Bahrain, Hajar, at the time of the Islamic conquest in 630 C.E. In the 12th century, the Jewish traveler-adventurer Benjamin of Tudela mentions 500 Jews living in Qays, and 5,000 in Al-Qatîf, involved in pearl fishery. In the 19th century, there were Jewish merchants from Iraq, Persia, and India in Bahrain.
Bahrain's record on human rights has been described by Human Rights Watch as "dismal", and having "deteriorated sharply in the latter half of 2010". Their subsequent report in 2020 noted that the human rights situation in the country had not improved.
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island which makes up around 83 per cent of the country's landmass. Bahrain is situated between Qatar and the northeastern coast of Saudi Arabia, to which it is connected by the King Fahd Causeway. The population of Bahrain is 1,501,635 as of May 14, 2023, based on elaborations of the United Nations data, of whom 712,362 are Bahraini nationals. Bahrain spans some 760 square kilometres (290 sq mi), and is the third-smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore. The capital and largest city is Manama.
Al-Waqt was a Bahraini Arabic-language daily newspaper. It was published between 2006 and 2010.
Mohammed Hasan Kamaluddin is a Bahraini former cabinet minister, member of parliament, ex-diplomat, poet, historian, writer and researcher. He is best known for having published the first Encyclopedia of Bahraini History, stretching from 3000 B.C. to the modern Bahraini state. It is the largest and first work of its kind in the GCC region.
Abdul Rahman bin Hamad Al Attiyah is a Qatari diplomat who served as the fourth secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Women's rights in Qatar are restricted by the country's male guardianship law - currently the only remaining country in the Gulf region with such laws - and influenced by the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. Both women and men were enfranchised in the country at the same time. Labour force participation rates of Qatari women are above the world average and among the highest in the Arab World, which comes mainly as a result of an increasing number of Qatari women who are attaining academic degrees.
Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh is a politician and a former government minister of health in Bahrain.
Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa is a Bahraini politician and former government minister.
Fawzia Abdulla Yusuf Zainal is a Bahraini media and social activist and politician who has been Speaker of the Council of Representatives since 12 December 2018 to 12 December 2022. Zainal is the first woman to lead Bahrain's parliament, and the second woman to lead a Gulf-Arab parliament after UAE's Amal Al Qubaisi.
Sawsan Haji Taqawi is a Bahraini politician and president of the Bahrain Badminton and Squash Federation.
