Editing History of Bahrain (section)

===The constitutional experiment===
{{see also|Bahraini parliamentary election, 1973}}
Based on its new [[1973 Constitution of Bahrain|1973 constitution]], Bahraini men elected its first [[National Assembly of Bahrain|National Assembly]] in 1973 (although Article 43 of the 1973 Constitution states that the Assembly is to be elected by "[[universal suffrage]]", the conditional clause "in accordance with the provisions of the electoral law" allowed the regime to prevent women from participating). Although the Assembly and then-Emir [[Isa ibn Salman al-Khalifa]] quarrelled over a number of issues (foreign policy; the [[United States 5th Fleet|U.S. naval presence]], and the budget), the biggest clash came over the [[State Security Law of 1974|State Security Law]] (SSL). The Assembly refused to ratify the government-sponsored law, which allowed, among other things, the arrest and detention of people for up to three years, (renewable) without a trial.

The legislative stalemate over this act created a public crisis, and on 25 August 1975, the emir dissolved the Assembly. The emir then ratified the State Security Law by decree, and suspended those articles in the constitution dealing with the legislative powers of the Assembly. In that same year, the emir established the [[State Security Court]], whose judgments were not subject to appeal.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14541322 | publisher=BBC News | title=Bahrain profile | date=19 September 2013}}</ref>