MANAMA, Feb 14: Bahrain said on Thursday it would hold its first parliamentary elections in 27 years, ushering in long-awaited reforms aimed at healing sectarian rifts in the Gulf Arab state.

The ruler of Bahrain, Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, set Oct 24 as the date for the polls during a speech broadcast on state television.

He also announced that Bahrain would revive municipal elections which would see women running for office for the first time.

“These decisions were taken to resume democracy as soon as possible for the welfare and prosperity of Bahrain,” Sheikh Hamad said on the first anniversary of a referendum on reform measures he had suggested last year.

“We announce the full reactivation of Bahrain’s constitution, including the amendments dictated by the national charter...for the achievement of further gains and freedoms,” he added.

Sheikh Hamad said Bahrain would now officially become a “constitutional kingdom” and named himself as monarch, a move that could raise the ire of opposition groups.

Bahrain’s first elected parliament was dissolved in 1975, leading to unrest. It was replaced with a Shura that is appointed by the amir and merely advises him on affairs of state.

Officials said the new assembly would have legislative powers, with both elected and appointed members enjoying equal rights and privileges.

The elections are part of the national charter which Sheikh Hamad, who took over after his father’s death in 1999, drafted and which Bahrainis overwhelmingly backed in the country’s first public referendum since its 1971 independence from Britain.

Bahrain, a relatively liberal Gulf state where the US navy’s Fifth Fleet is located, was wracked by sectarian unrest in the 1990s.

The previous amir, Sheikh Isa al-Khalifa, had arrested and exiled many opposition members but Sheikh Hamad released many political prisoners and abolished emergency laws last year as a goodwill gesture.

Sheikh Hamad has also said he would not object to the creation of political parties provided they maintained social unity. He did not say what he considered divisive.

In his brief speech, the amir did not say whether he had decided to amend the country’s constitution to grant decision-making powers to another appointed body that would be established alongside the elected parliament — a move strongly opposed by Bahraini rights groups.

Neither did he give any details about the electoral process, although royal decrees approved earlier say Bahrainis over 20 and without criminal records will be able to vote.

In the municipal elections, property owners and nationals of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states who live on the island can also cast their votes — making Bahrain the only Arab country that allows foreigners to vote.—Reuters