Opposition Figure: Bahrain Prepared for Referendum
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A prominent Bahraini opposition figure said that all preparatory measures have been taken to hold a referendum in the Persian Gulf country as the Al Khalifa regime also plans to hold parliamentary elections on Saturday.
“44 polling stations have been designated for referendum both inside and outside the country,” the deputy secretary general of Bahrain’s Islamic Action Society (Al Amal), Sheikh Abdullah Saleh, said during a round-table discussion organized by the Tasnim News Agency.
“The referendum is part of a political solution to get out of the crisis and the international community recognizes it,” he said, adding, “We would try our hardest to increase the public turnout in the referendum.”
“We would never force people to participate in the polls. Most of (Bahraini) opposition figures have endorsed the referendum and boycotted the parliamentary elections,” Sheikh Abdullah Saleh noted, adding that the referendum will be held on Friday and Saturday.
Earlier last week, an opposition source had said that the Bahrain regime has threatened to take away Bahraini nationality from those who refuse to vote in the parliamentary elections due to be held on November 22.
The Bahraini people have held protests across the country calling for the boycott of the parliamentary elections, which will be the first since protests broke out in the Arab country 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.
Since then, Many Bahrainis have been killed and hundreds injured and arrested in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrations.
