Bahraini Opposition Planning Independent, Popular Referendum
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of Bahrain’s National Independent Commission for Popular Referendum said a referendum is planned to be held in the country to inform world opinion about the regime’s crackdown on people’s uprising.
Balqees Ramadan told the Tasnim News Agency that the planned popular referendum is meant to let the world know about Al Khalifa regime’s oppression of the Bahraini revolution.
She added that it is also aimed at putting pressure on the world community to help Bahrainis gain their right to self-determination.
Ramadan further called for a democratic political system in Bahrain whose legitimacy originates from the will of Bahraini people not from tanks and guns.
The popular referendum is scheduled to be held on November 21-22.
Meanwhile the Bahraini regime plans to hold parliamentary elections on November 22 but the opposition groups have vowed to boycott the votes.
Last month, Bahrain’s prominent Shiite cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Issa Qassim questioned the upcoming parliamentary elections, saying they lack value.
Bahrainis have held protests across the country calling for the boycott of the elections.
The polls will be the first since protests broke out in Bahrain more than three years ago.
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of protesters have held numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling on the Al Khalifa royal family to step down from power. The protesters have also slammed the Manama regime’s arrest and torture of political activists.
Many Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.
