Member of the Accord Bloc (from Oct 2015)
Member of the Permanent Committee for Foreign, Defence & National Security Affairs
Member of the Investigative Committee on Unregistered Foreign Workers
Al-Noaimi won his seat against Islamist MP Jassim al-Saeedi, campaigning on a platform of shaking up parliamentary business. His parliamentary interventions have sometimes been confrontational, including participating in a walkout and abstaining on the Action Plan vote.
However, aside from these incidents, Al-Noaimi tends to be one of the less-visible figures during debates and it is difficult to see how he plans to live up to his pre-election promises to constituents about shaking up the business of Parliament. He voted in favour of the Stat Budget on 2 July 2015.
In October 2015 it was announced that Al-Noaimi would be a member of the new Accord Bloc, a grouping of five Sunni MPs headed by Isa Turki.
One of Al-Noaimi’s key areas of activity has been to lobby for the renovation and expansion of the mosques in his constituency.
ACTIVITY DURING 2015-2016 PARLIAMENT SEASON
Standards of living, health & education
Health: Al-Noaimi on 28 Aug accused the Health Ministry of delaying a health centre project in Riffa.
Disabled: Al-Noaimi on 24 Sep met with representatives from a society for the deaf, in order to learn about challenges facing them.
Economy & employment
Businesses: Al-Noaimi on 6 July proposed regulating the working hours of businesses, for better coordination and to avoid disturbances for locals.
Good governance & public finance
Subsidies: On 3 Aug Al-Noaimi supported the proposal of a subsidies smart card, saying that it could lead to a wider range of subsidized products and improve standards of living for citizens. He said that subsidy reform must be arrived at in accord with “the representatives of the people”.
Policing & regional security
China: Al-Noaimi on 10 July criticized China’s refusal to allow Muslims to fast during Ramadan.
Iran: Al-Noaimi on 23 July condemned statements by the Iranian leadership concerning Bahrain, which he described as interference in Bahrain’s internal affairs. He urged Iran to respect its neighbours’ privacy, calling for stiffer deterrent measures against Iran. On 26 July Al-Noaimi issued a statement warning against Iran’s continuing attempts to stir tensions in Bahrain and the region.
Yemen: Al-Noaimi on 4 Sep extended his condolences over the deaths of 5 Bahraini soldiers and other GCC troops in Yemen. Al-Noaimi warned that the Houthis must be confronted.
On 8 Oct Al-Noaimi stressed Bahrain’s efforts to restore stability to Yemen. On 9 Oct Al-Noaimi praised the role of the two sons of the King in the Yemen campaign.
Jordan: On the occasion of a visiting Jordanian delegation, Al-Noaimi on 17 Sep stressed the importance of further enhancing bilateral ties.
Rights & freedoms
Human rights: Al-Noaimi on 19 Sep criticized the Human Rights Council for failing to recognize Bahrain’s achievements in this area.
Youth, culture & sport
Technology: Al-Noaimi congratulated the Prime Minister on 7 Aug for his awarding of a technology and economic development prize, describing it as “international recognition” of his role.
Parliament role & constituent engagement
Affiliation: Al-Wasat newspaper on 4 Oct signaled that a new parliamentary bloc was likely to be established at the beginning of the new parliamentary term, consisting of MPs Al-Asoumi, Bu-Ali, Qaratah, Al-Bakri, Al-Maarifi, Al-Noaimi, Al-Hammadi, Bin-Huwail and Turki.
Affiliation: On 15 Oct Isa Turki announced the formation of a new parliamentary alliance to be called the “Accord Bloc”, with Turki as the head of the grouping. Other members are Muhsin al-Bakri, Dhiyab al-Noaimi, Mohammed al-Maarifi, Osama al-Khajah and Khalifa al-Ghanim. Most members are Sunni loyalists from the southern constituencies of Bahrain.
The Accord Bloc on 18 Oct held a press conference to officially announce its launch as a five-member alliance, headed by Isa Turki – also including, Mohammed al-Maarifi, Muhsin al-Bakri, Osama al-Khajah and Dhiyab al-Noaimi. Al-Noaimi was the only one of the five members not present for this event.
ACTIVITY DURING 2014-2015 PARLIAMENT SEASON
Housing, services & infrastructure
Housing: Al-Noaimi on 21 February issued a statement saying the Housing Ministry was fulfilling its pledges and that proposed housing projects were on schedule.
Traffic: On 25 April, Al-Noaimi commented that the plan to transform the iconic clock tower roundabout in Riffa would improve traffic flow. He noted that this proposal had come from a private bill put forward by MPs and praised the authorities on the quick response.
Development: Al-Noaimi on 27 April was party to a meeting between local constituents and Ministry of Works officials for developing localities in his Riffa constituency.
Events centre: Al-Noaimi on 4 May, along with Anas Buhindi, Mohammed al-Dossary, Abdulhamid al-Najjar and Muhsin al-Bakri have proposed the construction of an events centre in Al-Noaimi’s constituency.
Construction: During the 19 May parliamentary session, the Housing Minister responded to an “urgent” bill submitted by a number of MPs, including Isa al-Kooheji calling for a halt to the project, because it was causing congestion around the nearby mosque. The proposal to halt the project was criticized by MP Adel al-Asoumi and two MPs, Khalid al-Shaer and Dhiyab al-Noaimi withdrew their co-sponsorship of the proposal.
Standards of living, health & education
Riffa services: During the 31 March parliamentary debate the Minister of Works responded to a question by Al-Noaimi regarding provision of services in East Riffa. Al-Noaimi replied that parts of East Riffa had been “forgotten” and not taken account of in the budget. The Minister defended the Government’s record of developing the region.
Al-Noaimi praised the Prime Minister’s directive for commissioning an investigation into the needs for services in the Riffa area. (10 March) Al-Noaimi strongly praised the Prime Minister on 14 April for the “rapid response” by the Government for upgrading health services in Riffa.
Education: During the 24 March open parliamentary debate on Bahraini teachers Al-Noaimi praised the Education Ministry for making volunteer teachers available when many teachers went on strike during the 2011 crisis. He proposed naming a school after the minister – a proposal which the instigator of the debate Jalal al-Mahfoudh strongly criticized.
Social support: Al-Noaimi on 14 May tabled a question for the Social Development Minister regarding the number of families benefitting from social support and services in his constituency.
Good governance & public finance
Action Plan: In the 3 February session for voting on the Government Action plan, Al-Noaimi abstained from voting; saying that the proposed amendments made by the Action Plan Committee “failed to meet expectations”. Al-Noaimi was one of only three MPs who didn’t vote in favour of the Action Plan.
Minister interrogation: During the 5 May parliamentary session an insufficient number of MPs voted in support of interrogating the Health Minister over issues raised in the Audit report (23 supported, below the 2/3 quota of 27 MPs). Al-Noaimi voted in favour of the interrogation.
Debt ceiling: According to Al-Watan on 14 May Al-Noaimi was one of the 9 MPs who said that they would reject increasing the debt ceiling to 7bn BD.
Budget: Al-Noaimi on 20 May said that Parliament supported the careful management of public spending in the Budget, but not at the expense of support for citizens.
Policing & regional security
Defence: Al-Noaimi on 3 March praised the visit of the Defence Forces Supreme Commander to Parliament, saying that Parliament’s recent approval of the bill concerning judicial defence issues was based on “our emphasis on preserving security and stability”.
Sectarianism: Al-Noaimi on 7 June called for stronger action against those stirring up sectarianism in the Muslim world.
Rights, freedoms & religion
National Action Charter: On the 14 Feb anniversary of the Constitution Referendum, Al-Noaimi issued a statement saying the Charter “established strong foundations and principles for a democratic state based on justice and equality”.
Exclusion: On 21 March Al-Noaimi praised the directive to exclude the Lebanese poet Jumana Haddad. Al-Noaimi said: “A person who doesn’t respect our country’s religion and ethnicity cannot be accorded a welcome here. Such supporters of moral decay are not supposed to give lectures in our beloved Kingdom”.
Mosques: Al-Noaimi on 27 April asked the Ministry of Justice about its plans for building and restoring mosques in his constituency. On 14 May Al-Noaimi met a Justice Ministry official to discuss renovation and expanding mosques in his constituency. Al-Noaimi presented a document recording the situation regarding many of these mosques.
Quran: During the 5 May parliamentary session, MPs approved Al-Noaimi’s request to withdraw from the committee investigating improper recitals of the Quran.
Human rights: Al-Noaimi on 15 May described a recent Amnesty International report on Bahrain as “falsification of the facts”.
Parliament role & constituent engagement
Walkout: On 10 February Al-Noaimi participated in a walkout after the head of Parliament refused to discuss media allegations of corruption in the Parliament’s Secretariat General.
Effectiveness rating
- Standards of living, health & education – 4
- Housing & services – 5
- Policing & regional security – 4
- Good governance & public finance – 4
- Economy & employment – 3
- Supporting constituents & youth – 4
- Rights & freedoms – 4
- Constructive Parliament role – 3
- Public visibility – 3
- Progressive/reformist credentials – 4
Results of 2014 elections – 8th Southern
Areas covered: Southern Sitra, Ma’amir, East Riffa, Awali, Mazrowiyah, Askar, Jaw, Dawr
Housing blocks: 613, 614, 615, 616, 635, 636, 907, 909, 911, 942, 943, 945, 946, 948, 949, 950, 951, 952, 953, 954, 955, 957, 958, 959, 960, 965, 981, 982, 983, 985
Registered voters: 6,451; Percentage 1st round voter turnout: 82.1%
First round vote:
Dhiyab al-Noaimi – 1901 (36.7%); Mohammed al-Sisi – 1082 (20.9); Jassim al-Saeedi (MP) – 989 (19.1%); Mohammed al-Awdhani – 748 (14.5); Abdullah al-Azami – 311; Noura Bushehri – 96; Ali al-Rumaihi – 51
Second round vote:
Dhiyab al-Noaimi – 2787 (57.7%)
Mohammed al-Sisi – 2047 (42.4%)
Profile of election campaign: Dhiyab Mohammed Mohammed Dhiyab al-Noaimi
In the first round Dhiyab al-Noaimi succeeded in winning twice as many votes as incumbent MP Jassim al-Saeedi in one of the shock results of the contest, beating Al-Saeedi into third place. Many took Al-Saeedi’s successful candidacy for granted, particularly as his rivals had relatively little media exposure.
Al-Noaimi fought a hard campaign, harshly criticizing the performance of the previous Parliament. Al-Noaimi described his motivation for declaring his candidacy as the “general climate of frustration in the district among citizens at the performance of the parliament in its previous sessions, made me certain of the need for new faces in the assembly to stem the hemorrhage and the absence of confidence in the parliamentary experience”.
Al-Noaimi said he would concentrate on housing and promoting career opportunities for young people. He said Bahrainis “despaired” of the poor performance of previous parliaments and voters would lose trust if many of the same faces returned to Parliament. Al-Noaimi said his priority was supporting the democratic process. He said he wanted to improve standards of living and address the concerns of people from the constituency. Jassim al-Saeedi is a controversial Sunni preacher who has been outspoken in attacking the opposition since the 2011 unrest. This led to charges of sectarianism, but increased his public profile. Saeedi has held a parliamentary seat since 2002.
Constituency demographic
Recent constituency border changes have produced this rather odd constituency, ranging from the opposition home turf of Sitra to the loyalist hearth of Riffa. The 8th Southern district lies to the south of Bahrain along the eastern coast, in an area with a relatively low population density. Despite its relatively large size, this is the constituency with the fourth lowest number of voters. The expansion of this district has brought in a few Shia-majority areas, particularly to the northeast in Sitra, which may help encourage a more diverse range of public representatives.
Know your deputy: Profiles of other Bahrain MPs
Adel al-Asoumi – 1st Capital
Ahmed Qaratah – 2nd Capital
Adel Bin-Hamid Abdulhussain – 3rd Capital
Deputy-Head of Parliamentary Human Rights Committee
Abdulrahman Bumjaid – 4th Capital
Nasser al-Qaseer – 5th Capital
Deputy Head of the Permanent Committee for Financial and Economic Matters
Ali al-Atish – 6th Capital
Osamah al-Khajah – 7th Capital
Shaikh Majid al-Asfour – 8th Capital
Mohammed Jaffar Milad – 9th Capital
Nabil al-Balooshi – 10th Capital
Ali Bufarsan – 1st Muharraq
Head of Committee for Youth and Sports
Ibrahim al-Hammadi – 2nd Muharraq
Jamal Buhassan – 3rd Muharraq
Isa al-Kooheji – 4th Muharraq
Head of the Permanent Committee for Financial and Economic Matters
Mohammed al-Jowder – 5th Muharraq
Abbas al-Madhi – 6th Muharraq
Ali al-Muqla – 7th Muharraq
Abdulrahman Bu-Ali – 8th Muharraq
Fatimah al-Asfour – 1st Northern
Deputy Head of the Committee for Women and Children
Jalal Kadhim al-Mahfoudh – 2nd Northern
Deputy Head of Committee for Youth and Sports
Hamad al-Dossary – 3rd Northern
Ghazi Al Rahmah – 4th Northern
Deputy Head of Permanent Committee for Public Utilities and Environment
Ali al-Aradi – 5th Northern
Deputy Head of Parliament
Rua al-Haiki – 6th Northern
Shaikh Majid al-Majid – 7th Northern
Head of the Permanent Committee for Shari’ah and Legal Matters
Dr. Isa Turki – 8th Northern
Abdulhamid Abdulhussain al-Najjar – 9th Northern
Deputy Head of Committee for Supporting the Palestinian People
Mohammed al-Ammadi – 10th Northern
Head of Committee for Supporting the Palestinian People
Jamal Dawoud – 11th Northern
Head of Permanent Committee for Public Utilities and Environment
Jamila al-Sammak – 12th Northern
Head of the Committee for Women and Children
Khalid al-Shaer – 1st Southern
Head of Parliamentary Human Rights Committee
Mohammed al-Ahmed – 2nd Southern
Abdulhalim Murad – 3rd Southern
Second Deputy Head of Parliament
Mohammed al-Maarifi – 4th Southern
Deputy Head of the Permanent Committee for Services
Khalifa al-Ghanim – 5th Southern
Anas Buhindi – 6th Southern
Deputy Head of the Permanent Committee for Shari’ah and Legal Matters
Abdullah Bin-Huwail – 7th Southern
Head of the Permanent Committee for Foreign, Defence and National Security Affairs
Dhiyab al-Noaimi – 8th Southern
Mohsin al-Bakri – 9th Southern
Ahmed al-Mulla – 10th Southern
Head of Parliament