Alees Samaan is the first woman to chair a parliament in the Middle East when in April 2005 chaired Bahrain's upper house of parliament, the Consultative Council. Samaan is one of four women to sit in the Consultative Council. She is the daughter of Syrian Christian

Christianity in Syria

Christians in Syria make up about 10% of the population, the largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, closely followed by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and then the Syriac Orthodox Church; there are also a minority of Protestants...

 immigrants.

Women were only allowed to vote in Bahrain in 2002 when the Kingdom adopted wide ranging political reforms including the establishment of parliament, the release of all political prisoners and the encouragement of civil society. Women's political rights in Bahrain

Women's political rights in Bahrain

Women’s political rights have been a cornerstone of the political reforms initiated by King Hamad with for the first time women being given the right to vote and stand as candidates in national elections after the constitution was amended in 2002...

 have been at the core of the reform process, while being a major issue of contention between liberals and the Islamist

Al Wefaq

Al Wefaq National Islamic Society , also known as the Islamic National Accord Association, is a Bahraini political society, and the largest party in the Bahrain, both in terms of its membership and its results at the polls...

dominated opposition.

Women were allowed to vote and run in the 2002 elections in Bahrain.

External links

• Ms Saman's CV on Bahrain's parliament website
• Bahraini woman chairs parliament