In an interview to the Bahrain News Agency, Taqawi said that her immediate task was to create awareness among the citizens of her area to exercise their right to vote.
The people need to be told that the parliament will continue with or without their representative. The right to vote is given by the Constitution of Bahrain. Not using it is a violation of those rules and a denial of the rights, Taqawi said.
“Creating this awareness cannot be accomplished by me as an individual. I have the cooperation of like minded people in the area in achieving this goal. There are attempts to provoke the people to boycott and I am doing my best to break the boycott and make my area a safe place to cast the ballot and this is the first challenge,” she added.
“The area I represent comprises 11 villages with an overall population of 12,155. I think it is the second most populated place in Bahrain. I will concentrate on the development of the citizen as an individual,” she said.
Empower them to be good citizens through meeting their requirements will be a key area. The idea is to create a situation of fulfilling their social, political, health and economic rights in a safe area, added the Member of Parliament.
Housing and employment are primary focus areas for the improvement of her constituency, she said. “Look at housing. Bahrain has a system for providing housing, but delaying the delivery of houses is causing a problem. It is my priority to reduce the waiting list to the barest minimum the government has allotted a budget.
“You must see it in the right perspective. Bahrain being an island has limited land resources. With the depletion of this resource, it is important the housing needs are met with going vertical and not lateral.”
Unemployment, she said was no more an issue. Bahrain earlier had an issue. According to available statistics, the trend now has changed and most of the people are working in some capacity or another. “The only thing that needs to be done is to upgrade their skills so as to help them to grow to higher levels. In some cases, especially with the youth, it is an essential must to hone their skills and make them employable in better jobs,” said Taqawi.
“Thus they will be able to find employment in governmental and non-governmental sectors. It is important to create the skill sets to make them employable. This is on my agenda. This might take a while. We have to work hard. We will give it our best to fit the supply and demand,” she added.
She said that the electronic mailing system was put to use in addressing the youth and other unemployed in the area to contact her with their curriculum vitae and their needs. “I can try finding jobs for them according to their qualification or even chart out measures to improve on their present qualifications so they are better employed. Only when they join hands with me can there be a solution to this problem. If the two hands do not join then nothing happens.”
It is important to come together and complete the wheel so that the issue can be put to the cabinet and help sought from the higher levels, she added.
A former General Organisation for Youth and Sport (Goys) employee said her work was with the youth centres. “There are about 35 youth centres in Bahrain and 15 of them are in the Northern part,” she said. The programmes exist here, what is needed though is the budget to get it going. “We will sure be asking for an upgrading of the budget.”
“These centres take care of the men and women taking part in culture and art. There is a need for more infrastructures to help these sectors in their activities. The sporting activity found funding, but the youth activities need an upgraded budget,” she said.
”As one who is in the thick of this activity of youth centres, it gives me the power to ask for an upgrade in budget for youth activities,” she added.
The women need to be empowered; she added and said women empowerment is the first plan. “We need to look at the political, social and economic aspects of empowering and legislative measures adopted to benefit such a move. Another key area in women’s empowerment is environment. Legislation in all these areas is a must.”
On her views on more independents in parliament than political blocs, the second lady member of parliament said, “I think that’s the power of parliament. As an example I become a member of parliament and for me the importance is developing the area that I live in and thus the country. Being independent gives more power than being in a strait-jacket for political parties follows an agenda and members have to move in that agenda – no more, no less.”
Being in a political society constricts freedom to do things, she added. “I am not interested in being a follower; instead I’d rather be a leader of a team. In that capacity I get an opportunity to capitalize on the strengths of all the members and look at situations more openly. This helps in getting better results by better man management,” she added.
In her concluding remarks she expressed happiness in being only the second woman in the parliament after Lateefa Al Gaoud. “This is an achievement for the women of Bahrain. I think this is an achievement that will be added to Bahrain’s history to have two seats in the parliament for women and we hope to see more women entering the lower house soon.”
The Supreme Council for Women, she said, is bringing women candidate to the fore. “They provided me training in politics. They gave me courses and helped me develop my skills in decision making. As part of the national strategy to empower women they helped me develop and advance on the political aspects,” said Taqawi.