Some 17 women from Bahrain expressed their willingness to run for parliamentary (Lower House) and municipal elections projected for next November, Al Ayyam reported on Saturday. The newspaper pointed out that the process of nomination of Bahraini women is in general independent, as political associations in the country exclude female candidates from their electoral lists, contrary to the Gathering of National Unity which recruited one woman back in 2014. MP Ro’ua Hayki and former MP Ibtisam Hajros reportedly plan to run for the upcoming elections, according to Al Ayyam, which wrote that to date, the capital Al Manama claims the largest share of female nominees, referring to six women candidates. To recall, during the previous 2014 parliamentary battle, 23 women ran for parliament and 10 women for the municipal council, of which only 7 women reached the second round of elections, three managed to reach the national assembly and one the municipal council. (Al Diyar, July 22, 2018)