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Manama: Abdul Nabi Al Ekri, a prominent rights activist who spent years in exile, is the new chairman of the Bahrain Transparency Society.
Al Ekri, the head of the former exiles society and leading member of the Bahrain Human Rights Society, was selected by four fellow board members to hold the position.
His immediate task is to try to reinvigorate the once high-profile watchdog after it has been dormant for the last 12 months following a feud with political groups and a standoff with the social development ministry.
However, Abbas Bu Safwan, the new secretary-general, yesterday told Gulf News that he was optimistic about the new role of the society.
"We have many tasks ahead and we will work together as a team to achieve them. We have an urgent need to reenergise the society and get actively involved in several monitoring activities and secure the highest levels of transparency," Bu Safwan said.
"The fact that we could agree easily on a chairman is a good indication that the society is ready to overcome obstacles," he said.
Four of the five people elected to the board belonged to Waad and the Democratic Menbar Society, while Bu Safwan is member of Al Wefaq.
Concerns that the society board would not hold together over the name of the chairman were quickly dispelled after Bu Safwan refused to cast the vote that would break the tie between the candidates.
"We decided not to have any alliances and to reach instead an amicable agreement that would herald smooth relations. We wish Abdul Nabi as a chairman and all the other board and society members the best of luck," Bu Safwan said.
The society last year waded into controversy after its report on the 2006 elections was deemed "biased" and "inappropriate" by leftist societies angered by the non-condemnation of ten extra polling stations.
The societies, which could not win any seat, said that the stations were used to alter voting results and that the Bahrain Transparency Society report cleared the authorities of manipulation.
However, the society refuted the claims, saying that the report was "neutral and based on sheer facts" and could not include "speculation or wishful thinking."
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