Bahrain’s Revolution May Not Remain Peaceful: Opposition Activist

Speaking at a forum hosted by the Tasnim News Agency, Abdul Ghani Al-Khanjar, spokesman for Bahrain’s Haq Movement for Civil Liberties and Democracy, underlined that given the continuation of insults and attacks on religious scholars and figures and the ruling regime’s insistence on moving the country toward a deadlock, it cannot be guaranteed that Bahraini’s revolution will remain peaceful. 

He described the upcoming parliamentary elections as ‘sham elections’ and noted that opposition groups that have boycotted the votes plan to hold a popular referendum in the country instead.

“We support this referendum as a political measure because the ruling establishment has lost its legitimacy”, al-Khanjar stated.

He added that the outcome of the referendum will be sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as well as other international bodies and countries that support the Al Khalifa regime to let them know that Bahraini people no longer want this regime.

The popular referendum is scheduled to be held on November 21-22 as the Bahraini regime plans to hold its parliamentary elections on November 22.

The opposition groups have vowed to boycott the vote.

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.