Bahrain Holds Elections amid Crackdown on Opposition Groups
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Bahrainis vote on Saturday in a parliamentary election from which opposition groups have been barred in a crackdown on dissent in the Western-allied kingdom as tensions with the Shiite Muslim opposition show no signs of abating.
Activists have called for a boycott of the “farce” elections, raising doubts about the credibility of the polls. The government claims the elections are democratic.
Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has closed the main opposition groups, barred their members from running in elections and prosecuted scores of people, many described by human rights groups as activists, in mass trials.
“Clearly, legislatures from the world’s leading democratic states believe that the upcoming election in Bahrain lacks legitimacy. You simply cannot crush, torture and imprison your entire opposition, call for a pseudo-election, and then demand the respect of the international community,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), Reuters reported.
The Manama regime said 506 candidates are running in the election, including the highest number of female candidates. It expects a higher voter turnout than in 2014, which it put at 53 percent, when opposition groups boycotted the elections.
Only 23, out of 40 incumbents of the House of Representatives, are seeking re-election this year to parliament, which has limited powers.
Many of Bahrain’s Shiites say they are deprived of jobs and government services and treated as second-class citizens in the country of 1.5 million.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Manama is failing to create conditions necessary for a free election by “jailing or silencing people who challenge the ruling family” and banning all opposition parties.
A leader of dissolved opposition group al-Wefaq said the rise of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has emboldened Bahrain’s authorities in their crackdown on dissent, which has included stripping scores of activists from their nationality.
“They couldn’t go ahead with all the crackdown without the strong backing of the Saudi government. Mohammad bin Salman listens only to hardliners in Bahrain’s ruling family,” said Ali Alaswad, who lives in London and has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison.
