National Liberation Front - Bahrain

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Bahrain
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National Liberation Front - Bahrain (Arabic: جبهة التحرير الوطني البحرانية), was an underground Marxist-Leninist communist party in Bahrain. The NLF was founded on February 15, 1955, and was the first Leftist party in the Arab Gulf states. Among the founding members of the group were Ali Madan, Ahmed Al-Thawadi and Ali Dawaigher. The NLF played a leading role in the March Intifada uprising of 1965, in which nationalist forces rose up against British colonialism in Bahrain.

By the 1970s NLF was the major political force in the country. The group was severely repressed by the regime, and many activists and leaders went into exile.

In the early 2000s exiled leaders were allowed to return to Bahrain and work politically. Ahead of the 2002 polls the NLF launched the Democratic Progressive Tribune, a leftist political organization to contest elections. Since then the Democratic Progressive Tribune has substituted the NLF. Between 2002-2006, the party had three MPs in parliament, including the deputy speaker, Abdulhadi Marhoon. However, all the group's MPs lost their seats in the 2006 election, when Sunni and Shia communal parties won all but one seat in parliament.