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DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrainis vote Saturday in a parliamentary election, after which opposition groups have been banned from repression in the realm of Western opponents. Shia Muslim opposition does not seem to mitigate.
Activists have called for a boycott of what they call elections "pranks," raising doubts about poll credibility. The government says elections are democratic.
The al-Khalifa family, in power in Bahrain, has kept dissent in check since the Shiite opposition staged a failed uprising in 2011. Saudi Arabia sent troops to help defeat the unrest, fearing that any concession of power-sharing by Bahrain could inspire the Shia minority of Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh considers the neighboring island nation, which does not have vast oil wealth like the other Gulf states, as an essential ally in its proxy wars against Iran in the Middle East.
Bahrain, home to the US Navy's fifth largest fleet, closed down major opposition groups, barred their members from running for election, and sued dozens of people, often described by human rights groups as activists in mass trials.
"Clearly, the legislatures of the world's leading democratic states believe that the upcoming elections in Bahrain lack legitimacy. You simply can not crush, torture and imprison the entirety of your opposition, ask for a pseudo-election, and then demand the respect of the international community, "said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. (BIRD), based in the United Kingdom. .
The government said there were 506 candidates running for office, including the largest number of women candidates. He expects an electoral turnout higher than that of 2014, which was 53%, when opposition groups boycotted the elections.
Only 23 of the 40 incumbents of the House of Representatives are candidates for re-election this year in Parliament, which has limited powers.
A large number of Bahraini Shiites say they are deprived of jobs and public services and treated as second-class citizens in a country of 1.5 million people.
The authorities deny these accusations and accuse Iran of causing unrest, during which demonstrators clashed with security forces, who were the target of several bombings. Tehran denies the allegations.
BAHRAIN EMBOLDEN
Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Manama is failing to create the conditions for a free election by "imprisoning or silencing those who challenge the ruling family" and banning all opposition parties.
A leader of dissident opposition groups, al-Wefaq, said the rise of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had encouraged the Bahraini authorities in their crackdown on dissent, including the removal of many activists from their position. nationality.
"They could not go ahead with all the repression without the strong support of the Saudi government." Mohammed bin Salman listens only to the extremists of Bahrain's ruling family, Ali Alaswad, an exiled foreign minister, told Reuters on Thursday. London and sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment.
Opponents of the government say that the room for maneuver for political expression has been reduced since the beginning of the elections. Several activists, including a former lawmaker, were arrested last week for tweeting about the election boycott, activists said.
"No one is prevented from expressing their political views," said a government spokeswoman. "Bahrain is home to 16 political societies, the majority of which have nominated candidates for the upcoming elections, and the government fully supports open and inclusive political dialogue."
Some candidates used social media to urge Bahrainis to vote as a patriotic duty.
"Those who do not participate will not be part of the national consensus in Bahrain," said Ali Al Aradi, deputy speaker of the Bahraini House of Representatives.
Some opposition figures are hoping that the outcry over the murder of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Riyadh consulate in Istanbul last month could help strengthen the more moderate voices in the region, including members of the royal family. from Bahrain open to dialogue with the opposition.
The assassination of Khashoggi, a critic of Prince Mohammed, was condemned worldwide and revealed Saudi Arabia's crackdown on dissent and its aggressive foreign policy.
"Now, if there is a real US charge against Mohammed bin Salman, the radical wings in Bahrain that do not want to work with the opposition will be weakened," said Alaswad.
But some analysts are skeptical.
"The assassination of Khashoggi will simply serve to underline that those who wish to denounce abuses face a much more risky task," said Marc Owen Jones of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of the University of Exeter.
"If anything, it will have a deterrent effect."
Report by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Nafisa Eltahir; Edited by Michael Georgy and Ghaida Ghantous
