TEHRAN, November 24 -Polls have opened in Bahrain to choose a new Parliament, but the country's two main opposition parties have already announced they would not participate in protest against the kingdom's crackdown on dissent.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Polls have opened in Bahrain to choose a new Parliament, but the country's two main opposition parties have already announced they would not participate in protest against the kingdom's crackdown on dissent.
The polls opened on Saturday to the public to choose 293 candidates for the Legislature, according to the authorities.
Bahrain’s main Shia opposition group, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, which was banned by the state and had its funds liquidated in 2016, and the National Democratic Action Society (Wa’ad), have boycotted the polls. Both were dissolved last year by the Manama regime on “terrorism” charges,
At least six people were detained and charged this month for "obstructing the electoral process," according to statements released by Bahrain's Public Prosecutor.
One of the six was Ali Rashed al-Asheeri, a former member of the Parliament with al-Wefaq, according to the London-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. He was arrested after tweeting that he and his family would not be voting.
Opposition parties had also shunned the last elections in 2014, denouncing it as a "farce."
Since February 2011, Bahraini people have been holding peaceful protest rallies on an almost daily basis, demanding that the Al Khalifah family relinquish power and allow the establishment of a just system representing all Bahrainis.
Bahrainis have also been complaining against widespread discrimination against the Shia majority in the kingdom.
Manama has responded to the demonstrations with lethal force, drawing international criticism from rights groups.
Scores have been killed and hundreds of others arrested during the campaign of suppression.
On Friday, the UK-based rights group Amnesty International said it was "gravely concerned" by Bahrain's suppression of political opposition.
"Over the past two years, the crackdown in Bahrain has seen the political opposition detained, intimidated and silenced," said Devin Kenney, the rights group's Bahrain researcher, in a statement.
"We call on the authorities to stop this ongoing and escalating repression and to allow the free expression of dissenting voices, including those who oppose the monarchy," he added.
Source: presstv
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