Strict measures should be introduced to govern the overseas funding of Bahrain's political societies, National Dialogue participants have agreed. Consensus was reached during the political session last night.

Dialogue participants agreed funding should come mainly from the government, but political societies could seek financial support from abroad on condition it came from a recognised source.

They also backed a proposal to change the age people can join political societies to bring it in line with the voting age, which participants want lowered to 18.

Currently the membership age is 21 and the voting age 20.

National Dialogue spokesman Isa Abdulrahman said consensus was reached on several key political issues.

"A consensus on article four in the political societies law to ensure that their foundation is patriotic rather than sectarian was reached," he said.

"There was an agreement that individuals can't be members of two different political societies at the same time.

"A consensus on turning political societies into parties was a subject to a difference in opinion and no agreement has been reached."

Meanwhile, Abdulrahman said there was consensus during the human rights session on granting Bahraini nationality to the children of Bahraini women married to expatriates living here.

He said economic session participants also agreed to strengthen commercial arbitration through specialised courts and judges to help resolve commercial, banking and financial disputes.

Abdulrahman revealed consensus was reached on another 21 issues in the social session.

"A major consensus could soon allow professional societies to issue work licences to practitioners," he said. "An agreement was also reached on the disabled getting more financial aid from the government, besides improving their services and facilities."

Abdulrahman said the Dialogue was progressing well with no backlog of issues. "We have no deadline to the end of the Dialogue but things are on track and we have no backlog within the four rooms and we expect the situation to be clearer in the coming days as we assess the percentage of consensus," he said.

The issues of disagreement will take time whenever there is major opposition from the two parties to the way it should be done or handled, but that can be solved either through the objecting group or individual stepping down from the demand or something reached in the middle that pleases all." - TradeArabia News Service