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78 Records of Bahrain

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v/arclo wore required to own property in the ward though it was
not essential that they should live in the ward. The right
to vote was held by every peroon who paid a municipal tax.
This in Tact confined the voters to poroons owning or
occupying housoa or shops in the municipal area and excluded
the large floating population of Manomah which includes
Persian coolioB, Omanies and others. A man living alone in
one baraati as well as a merchant living in a large house
with a quantity of servants and relations were both entitled
to one vote. This arrangement apjjearcd to the Government
to be reasonable and fair.
The last municipal election was in- May 1950. The
members who were elected by the public consisted of tv/o Shia
Arabs, Abdu Ali Alaiwat and llaj Ebrahim Muscnti ("Muucati"

being a nickname), 8 Sunni Arabs, 1 Sunni Persian and 1
Sunni Nejdi. The Government nominated 3 Shia Arabs, 5 Sunni
Arabs, 2 Indians, 1 Nejdi and 1 Iraqi, In the election a
number of young Arabs were returned after a regular election
campaign during which they used a loudspeaker mounted on a
car to encourage voters. The Shiaa appoared to make no
efforts to obtain voteo. The new council rcoolved iteolf
into a three party affair, the Shia Arabs (Bahama), the
older members and the new blood.
Immediately after the election there were suggestions
that the elections had no.t been properly conducted, that
the municipal officials who were mostly Sunni had used their
influence to help the Sunni candidates and that voting cards

were not properly distributed, but no complaint was made to
the Government.
In February 1951 a question of compensation for a shop,
which was Sunni Wakf property, came up before the council.
council decided that compensation was not duo in this
The
At a later mooting the matter was, wrongly, raisod
case.
again by Khalil Kanoo, a Sunni with otrong anti-Shia
/prejudices