There is intense interest among political analysts in the fate of Muneera Fakhro of the Al-Waad political grouping who is contesting one of the nine parliamentary seats. None of the candidates from these nine of the 40 seats for the lower house of Parliament could secure the minimum 50-percent votes in the first round of polling last week, prompting a second round on Saturday. The two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the first round will run in the second round.

Thirty-one winners were announced last week. They included 18 members of the main opposition Al-Wefaq grouping. Many of those in the second round belong to Al-Asalah and Al-Menbar, the two political groups that saw their political fortunes dwindle during these elections. Both groups had done extremely well in the 2006 elections and had held a combined 15 seats in the outgoing National Assembly and were part of the ruling bloc. This time they lost heavily to business-friendly independents.

"It is going to be a close call on Saturday and may the best candidate win," Fakhro was quoted as saying in Gulf Daily News on Friday.

She is facing a tough battle against Isa Al-Qadhi and to make matters even more difficult, one of her first round opponents, Khalid Al-Shaer, came out in support of her rival.

"Al-Shaer's announcement may influence the way voters decide, but I still have a chance," she said. "Some votes could go in my favor and others for Al-Qadhi. Voters should elect their candidates wisely."

Al-Waad is an inclusive political grouping of leftist liberals. In the past, they have aligned themselves with Al-Wefaq in Parliament. If Fakhro wins along with another prominent second-round Al-Waad candidate Ibrahim Shareef, then the lower house would be split equally. Fakhro contested in 2006 as well and lost narrowly.

There were 127 parliamentary candidates in the running this time, including eight women, for 35 seats. Five candidates, including a woman, were elected unopposed.

Speaking to Arab News, leading Al-Wefaq figure Jasim Husain said: "We are hoping that both Fakhro and Ibrahim Shareef will win. We are politically closer to Al-Waad. In any case, it will be far more interesting to have the ruling and opposition group divided into two equal halves in the house."

Shareef's chances have brightened after one of his opponents, Abdullah Hashim, who came third in the first round of voting, declared his support for him. "I support Ibrahim Shareef against Ali Ahmad Abdullah in parliamentary constituency No. 3 because we believe in change," Hashim was quoted as saying in local newspapers. "Voters are tired of the same old candidates. We need new faces and I feel that Waad can make a difference."

On his part, Ibrahim Shareef said: "Abdullah is an old friend and I thank him for his support ... We share the same programs and his joining forces with us would certainly help us during the second round."

Voters will cast their ballots at their local constituency polling station or one of the 10 general polling stations across Bahrain between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The nine winners will be announced Sunday.

Bahrain won international applause for conducting a free and fair election last week. The international media had access to all election booths and the journalists were free to speak to anyone they wanted.

The whole exercise was transparent and beamed live on state television. All key ministers were at hand and more than willing to answer difficult questions from the media, indicating the government's confidence in carrying out this important democratic exercise.

The turnout in the first round of polling was overwhelming with nearly 70 percent of the eligible voters casting their votes. From the government's point of view, the huge turnout was an indication of the average Bahraini's faith in the system of governance.

"Each vote that was cast last week was for the security and stability of our kingdom," said Foreign Affairs Minister Khaled Ahmed Al-Khalifa. "Each vote reinforced our citizens' faith in our system."

Meanwhile, Information Affairs Authority President Fawaz bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa has asked his staff to provide full facilities for the media to report on the second round of polling. A fully equipped media center has been set up at the Reporters Club in Manama to help print and broadcast journalists to file and beam their reports.