King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain issued a royal decree on Monday, amending some of the provisions that define the criteria of appointing Shura Council members.
The decree was effective from the date of its issuance and was published in the Official Gazette.
He said those to be appointed should not be affiliated to any political society.
The royal order was issued two days after the end of the parliamentary elections that named the representatives of the constituencies.
Following the parliamentary elections, the Bahraini leadership carries out the next step, which is appointing members of the Shura Council.
The new members of the parliament and the council then meet for the first time under the chairmanship of the King.
Notably, the Shura Council usually includes representatives of minorities in the Bahraini society because it is hard for them to be appointed in the elected House of Representatives.
It also includes intellectuals and those with expertise and competence.
The King has the right to choose whoever he deems appropriate to be member of the Council without any conditions.
The Council, which is appointed by the King, is half of the Bahraini parliament or the second chamber while the National Assembly is composed of 80 members.
Meetings of the National Assembly are held following an order by the King to discuss urgent national issues and are chaired by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Bahrain has made changes to the laws of the legislative authority, giving the House of Representatives the right to first review any new amendment, legislation or law.
It also gave the Shura Council the right to question ministers after it was exclusively done by the House of Representatives.
On June 11, King Hamad approved a law banning members of opposition political societies, which have been dissolved by judicial rulings, from running for parliamentary elections.
