National Democratic Action Society

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Bahrain

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The National Democratic Action Society - Wa'ad (Arabic:جمعية العمل الوطني الديمقراطي - وعد) is Bahrain's largest leftist political party. It emerged out of the Popular Front, a radical clandestine opposition movement of Maoist, socialist and Arab nationalist orientation. Under the reform process initiated by Bahrain's King Hamad, the leaders of the Popular Front returned from exile to participate in the political process through the National Democratic Action.

The party's origins lie in the split within the Left in the Arab world in the 1960s, between a pro-Moscow camp and a pro-China camp, with the NDA's leaders backing Beijing. The party is the first licensed political group in any of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

Historically the Left in Bahrain had been very strong, partly as a result of the creation of a local working class through the Kingdom's industrialisation with the discovery of oil in the 1930s; however the waning of Arab nationalism, the collapse of communism as an ideology and the rise of the Islamist Right have marginalised the NDA and robbed it of much of its traditional support. The party suffered a very disappointing result in 2002's municipal elections when none of its candidates were elected in any constituency. Despite this, the NDA's leaders are widely respected and retain a great deal of influence in Bahraini society.

The current leader of the party is Ibrahim Sharif Al-Sayed, who took over in 2005 from Abdul-Rahman Al Nuaimi. In 2005 the party renamed itself Wa'ad (Arabic: وعد), which translates to "Promise". Also there are some leaders in Wa'ad like : Abdul-Nabi Alekri , Ebrahim KamalAldeen , Sami Seyadi , Ali Salih and Munira Fakhro

The party boycotted 2002's parliamentary elections, but is taking part in the Bahraini parliamentary election of 2006; among its candidates is its Vice President and former Harvard academic, Munira Fakhro, who is contesting an Isa Town constituency against Dr Salah Ali of Al-Menbar Islamic Society.

[edit] See also

• Popular Front for the Liberation of Bahrain
• National Liberation Front - Bahrain
• Democratic Progressive Tribune - Bahrain
• List of political parties in Bahrain
• Munira Fakhro
• Bahrain election 2006 women candidates

[edit] External links

• National Democratic Action (Arabic)
• A mirror of the National Democratic Action Website (Arabic)
• Bahrain 'democratic forces' to join forces soon, Gulf News, 13 February 2006
• List of Central Committee members, 2006 (from Gulf Daily News)
• 'Few political societies try to bridge gap between Sunnis and Shiites', Gulf News, 4 October 2006

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