BAHRAIN - Feb. 15 - National Charter Voted.

In a 2-day referendum 98.4% of the voters endorse the new National Action Charter calling for sweeping constitutional reforms. (Voters over the age of 20 were asked to approve a broad framework embodying statements of intent by Shaikh Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifa, the reformist-minded ruler, since he succeeded to the throne almost two years ago, and which further evolved through a 46-member "supreme national council" last December. The charter includes proposals to widen public participation in government through an elected legislature, to guarantee respect for human rights and the rule of law through an independent judiciary, and to establish a free open-market economy. Voters were also asked to approve Bahrain's shaikhdom becoming a "constitutional monarchy". The referendum is part of a process by which Bahrain is to establish itself as a role model for other GCC governments whose political structures stretch from Kuwait's parliament, elected on a narrow all-male franchise, to municipal legislative councils in Qatar, and councils with purely advisory or consultative rights in Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

For Bahrain, the referendum was the first test of the national will since general elections for a National Assembly were held in 1974. Holding the referendum is considered an achievement in itself. The National Assembly created from the last elections survived just over a year before being dissolved by the-then ruler, Hamad's father Shaikh Issa, after it refused to ratify a government-sponsored bill to arrest and detain people for up to three years without trial. Simultaneously, the articles of the constitution which defined the legislative powers of the assembly, were suspended. Since then the government has ruled by decree, through a cabinet in which the ruling family holds 11 out of 20 portfolios. Substance was given earlier this week to the government's intentions when Shaikh Hamad announced the pardon and release of all remaining political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, including 108 exiles and 289 others, some of whom had been detained in Bahrain more than three years. They included Abdel Wahab Hussein, a leader of the island's Shiite minority. More than 20 of those in exile have already returned, and special efforts are to be made to find them jobs. In October 2000, senior officials were denying the existence of any political prisoners. London-based Amnesty International welcomed the ruler's pardon, saying it hoped the move would be followed by changes in law. The US, a key political ally, has also welcomed the move towards democratic reform).