elections took place on 24 November 2018, followed by re-elections on 1 December 2018, and resulted in the formation of the House of Representatives and the three municipal councils distributed over the governorates of the Kingdom. 13. In accordance with the powers granted to the NIHR pursuant to Paragraph (e) of Article (12) of Law No. (26) of 2014 on the Establishment of the National Institution for Human Rights, as amended by Decree-Law No. (20) of 2016, the NIHR is competent to, “Monitor violation of human rights, conduct the necessary investigation, draw the attention of the competent authorities and provide them with proposals on initiatives to put an end to such violations, and where appropriate, express its opinion on their positions and reactions.” 14. Paragraph (g) of the same Article of the Law establishing the NIHR as amended, followed by granting it the right to, “Perform announced and unannounced field visits to monitor human rights situation in correctional institutions, detention centers, labor calls gathering, health and education centers, or any other public place in which it is suspected that human rights violations are taking place.” 15. In fulfillment of its role in the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms on the ground, and in response to the need to ensure the enjoyment of those rights and freedoms by all, the NIHR, for the first time since its establishment, and with its broad mandate -pursuant to its establishment Law- as an independent body, monitored the parliamentary and municipal elections of 2018 in the Kingdom of Bahrain, from the moment of calling for the elections and the commencement of its proceedings, to the final announcement of its membership, until appealing the final results. 16. The monitoring of the electoral process included the distribution of a number of members of the Council of Commissioners and of the General Secretariat of the NIHR among several public and provincial ballot and counting committees, totaling (14) general committees and (40) subcommittees, to observe the electoral process to ensure the integrity and impartiality of the elections and their proper implementation, verify the smooth running of the electoral procedures, identify the obstacles that may impede the course of the electoral process, and draw a number of observations and recommendations that would contribute to the improvement of the electoral process and ensure the greatest possible participation of voters and candidates and enable them to exercise their political rights during the coming elections. 10