The Bahraini opposition refers to a group of political groups who are opposed to the
Cabinet of Bahrain
The Cabinet of Bahrain is the chief executive body of the Kingdom of Bahrain. According to Article 32 (b) of the 2002 Constitution, "executive authority is vested in the King together with the Council of Ministers and Ministers". The Council of M ...
government and the ruling monarch of the
Sunni House of Khalifa
The House of Khalifa ( ar, آل خليفة, translit=Āl Khalīfah) is the ruling family of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Al Khalifas profess Sunni Islam and belong to the Anizah tribe, some members of this tribe joined the Utub alliance which m ...
. Currently, the Bahraini opposition can be divided into the officially registered political parties, who demand reforms to the current political system, and the unregistered opposition groups. Most of the opposition is comprised from the majority
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
population of Bahrain.
The alliance of registered opposition parties consists of:
*
Al Wefaq National Islamic Society
Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest cou ...
(banned)
*
National Democratic Action Society
The National Democratic Labour Action Society – Wa'ad ( ar, جمعية العمل الوطني الديمقراطي – وعد) is Bahrain's largest leftist political party.
History and profile
It emerged from the Popular Front, a "radical" c ...
(Wa'ad, banned)
*
Progressive Democratic Tribune
Progressive Democratic Tribune ( ar, جمعية المنبر الديمقراطي التقدمي), often referred to as al-Minbar, is a political organization launched by returning exiles from the underground communist National Liberation Front ...
*
Islamic Action Society
The Islamic Action Society ( ar, جمعية العمل الإسلامي ''Jamʿīyah al-ʿAmal al-ʾIslāmī''), sometimes shortened to ʿAmal ( ar, أمل), was one of the main Islamist political parties in Bahrain, and mainly appealed to Shī ...
(Amal, banned)
*Al Wahdawi
*Al Ekha
*
Nationalist Democratic Assembly
The unlicensed opposition consists of:
*
Haq Movement
The Haq Movement for Liberty and Democracy ( ar, حركة حق حركة الحريات والديمقراطية) is an opposition political organization in Bahrain founded in November 2005 with Hasan Mushaima as its secretary general. Several of ...
*
February 14 Youth Coalition
Coalition Youth of 14 Feb Revolution (), sometimes called The Coalition () is a Bahraini youth group, named after the date of the beginning of Bahrain's uprising, and led by anonymous individuals who organize protests chiefly via new-media si ...
*
Al Wafa' Islamic Movement
AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media
* Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera
* Al (''Fullmetal ...
*
Bahrain Freedom Movement
*
National Liberation Front – Bahrain
The National Liberation Front—Bahrain ( ar, جبهة التحرير الوطني—البحرين) is a communist party in Bahrain. It was founded on 15 February 1955, the first leftist party in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Among the ...
*
Al-Ashtar Brigades
The al-Ashtar Brigades (''Saraya al-Ashtar'', named after Malik al-Ashtar), or AAB for short, is a Shiite militant group in Bahrain designated as a terrorist organization by the governments of Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, ...
*
Al-Mukhtar Brigades
The al-Mukhtar Brigades, also called Saraya al-Makhtar or Bahraini Islamic Resistance, is a Bahraini Shia insurgent movement that has taken part in several attacks against government targets. It is classified as a terrorist organization by multip ...
Since the
2011 Bahraini uprising
The 2011 Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni Islam, Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spr ...
, all opposition parties have boycotted
parliamentary elections. The opposition has since failed to overthrow the Cabinet of Bahrain.
See also
*
Politics of Bahrain
*
List of political parties in Bahrain
Political parties are illegal in Bahrain but operate as ''de facto'' political parties under the term political societies. Political societies in Bahrain range from the communist left to the Islamist right.
Current
Banned Parties
register ...
References
Bahraini democracy movements
Bahraini uprising of 2011
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
*
Politics of Bahrain
{{Bahrain-stub