BIPD launches second "political speechwriting" contest

Manama, Sept. 3 (BNA): The Bahrain Institute for Political Development (BIPD) announced the launch of the second edition of the “Political Speech Writing" Contest. The competition aims to discover Bahraini youngsters who are talented in the field of political discourse writing to develop and refine their skills and prepare them to be future political and media competencies who are capable of enriching and sustaining national political action, which will boost the kingdom’s democratic process. In a statement, Information Affairs Minister and BIDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Ali bin Mohammed Al-Romaihi, said that BIDP is organising the competition for the second consecutive year to develop and hone the skills of Bahrain youth in the field of political speech writing in light of the paramount importance of the political discourse in influencing the public opinion trends towards all domestic and international issues. BIDP hopes the contest will continue playing its role in discovering Bahraini youngsters who are talented in the political speech writing through raising the spirit of fair and free competition among the citizens of the nation to make political and media cadres who are capable of enriching and sustaining national political action, Al-Romaihi said. “Investing in human resources, especially youngsters, and developing their skills in various fields, are essential pillars of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s Reform Project. Youngsters enjoy the special care of the leadership as they are the backbone of the kingdom’s present and its hope for a brighter future,” he added. BIDP chairman pointed out that the competition seeks to develop the values of fair competition among Bahraini youth in accordance with democratic principles, which, he said, will contribute to creating new generations and cadres who have enough political awareness that enables them to enrich the political action in the kingdom. Al-Romaihi added that rhetoric is an art whose skills should be acquired by youth, given its role in guiding and raising awareness, as well as convincing the public, especially among groups wishing to engage in public affairs and the political action in the future. He went on to say that “the competition aims to urge and motivate youth to read and acquire knowledge to develop their intellectual and cognitive skills, as the political speech writing art requires a considerable culture, linguistic knowledge and human experience to ensure its success in wooing recipients.” The minister affirmed that the Kingdom of Bahrain boasts of Bahraini youth competencies, who are distinguished in various fields, highlighting the success of the first edition in terms of participation and quality and diversity of works presented. BIDP Board Chairman said that the fact that the contest targets young Bahrainis in the age group of 18-29 is based on objective reasons, explaining that at the age of 18, the participant has completed secondary education and is capable of dealing with this kind of competitions. He added that the 18-29 age group makes up more than a quarter of Bahrainis, according to the statistics of the Central Informatics Organisation, and therefore, deserve all attention. The institute has allocated an electronic address to receive young people’s contributions in the writing of political speech and contributions should be addressed as of September 4 to: contest@bipd.org. The Institute will continue to accept contributions until the end of November 2016, he said. Participants should attach copies of their CVs, personal photos, contact numbers, the scientific degrees obtained and their current jobs, if any. The contest is open to both sexes and among its conditions is that the participant must be a Bahraini citizen and aged between 18 and 29. The Participants is entitled to write about a national political subject which is of high interest to the Bahraini society. The text should be in the range of 900 to 1000 words and written in classical Arabic. The text should be comprehensive and includes the necessary writing elements. Al-Romaihi urged the Bahraini youth to participate massively in the contest, saying that the competition is a valuable opportunity for young people to discover their talent and get their political speech writing skills honed and is also an opportunity for them to adequately approach the masses through the preparation of a political speech with the necessary public speaking skills to engage in political action in the future. He stressed that within the framework of its efforts to encourage and stimulate young people to be creative and develop their talent in the field of political speech, BIDP has allocated three cash prizes for the winners of the contest. They are: BD1,500 for the first winner, BD1,000 for the second and BD500 for the third, pointing out that the participating works will be evaluated by a competent jury. It is worth noting that the Bahrain Institute for Political Development is a national institute which aims primarily to disseminate the culture of democracy, to support and establish the concept of sound democratic principles. It was established by Decree No. (39) for the year 2005. It has been working on raising the level of political and development awareness, promoting the political drive in Bahrain, increasing knowledge among all members of the community and making them aware of the importance of political action and of their rights and duties as guaranteed by the constitution and organised by relevant legislation.