Bahraini Latifa Al Gaoud has made history by becoming the Gulf's first woman Member of Parliament after she was elected unopposed from her constituency.
Gaoud's election was ensured after the registration for the November 25 Parliament polls in Bahrain closed on Monday night without any rival contestant in her constituency.
"Only Al Gaoud remained as a candidate in the southern governorate's constituency six (Hawar) making her a winner by law," Election High Committee spokeswoman Ahdeya Ahmed said.
Al Gaoud, 50, who works as the human resources and financial director at the Finance Ministry said, "When I entered the elections race in 2002 as a candidate for constituency one in East Riffa, I reached the second round against MP Jassim Al Saeedi. I had hoped to win, but lost by a narrow margin. But I didn't give up."
"People will be looking up to me as the first woman MP, and hopefully I will not let them down," she was quoted as saying by Gulf Daily News.
She added that "the most important thing is raising the standard of living for Bahrainis."
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