Polling stations across Bahrain have opened up on Saturday as the country heads to parliamentary elections.
The government hopes that there will be a higher turn out of voters this time when compared to the 53 per cent turnout in 2014. But these elections are far from democratic.
The main opposition groups have been closed and their members have been barred from running in elections. The government has also prosecuted activists, who were a significant dissenting voice, in mass trials.
In May, Bahrain’s parliament approved a bill barring the former members of al-Wefaq from running in elections. The group announced a boycott of the upcoming elections in October. Another opposition group followed suit in November.
On November 4, a Bahraini court sentenced three senior opposition members, including prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Ali Salman, to life imprisonment after overturning a previous acquittal. They were charged with spying for Qatar, in what Amnesty International called a “travesty of justice.”
While the government claims the elections are democratic, activist have cried foul describing the elections as "farce". “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) told Reuters.
This time around, the election is seeing the highest number of female candidates among the 506 who are fighting for a postion in the Bahrain parliament. In 2014 elections too, there was no opposition as the groups had boycotted the elections.
Shia Muslims in Bahrain claim they are treated as second class citizens deprived of jobs and government services. The ruling family of Al Khalifa, of Sunni Muslim descent, has suppressed protests with the help of Saudi Arabia. Riyadh sent its troops to help crush 2011 uprising against the ruling family fearing such a rising could inspire the Shia Muslim minority in their own country. Bahraini authorities accuse Shiite Iran of provoking unrest in the kingdom. Tehran denies the allegation.
In a strong move, Bahrain, allegedly with the backing of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, stripped many activists of their nationality. Ahead of the elections, the regime arrested and charged five people of “obstructing the electoral process” of the polls.
Muhanna al-Shayji, head of Bahrain’s so-called electoral crimes unit, said one of the suspects had been detained after calling on Twitter for a boycott of the November 24 elections, according to the statement. A second man was arrested for posting “fake news on the behavior of one of the candidates” on social media, and the other three were arrested for destroying advertisements of candidates, the statement said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday that Bahrain had failed to provide conditions for fair and free voting in the upcoming polls, adding that the elections are taking place in a repressive political environment.
Amnesty International expressed "grave concerns" over the campaign of suppression by the rulers on Friday. “Over the past two years, the crackdown in Bahrain has seen the political opposition detained, intimidated and silenced,” Devin Kenney, the rights group's Bahrain researcher.
Last year, Bahrain ratified a constitutional amendment granting military courts the authority to try civilians charged with "terrorism", a term that is loosely defined by the Bahraini penal code.
In June, the kingdom amended its law on political rights, prohibiting "leaders and members of political associations dissolved for violating the kingdom's constitution or its laws" from running in legislative elections.
The Gulf island-state remains a vital link for Western militaries. It is the home of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, which patrols the oil-rich region, as well as a permanent British base.
The Trump administration lifted restrictions on arms sales to Bahrain that former president Barack Obama imposed on human rights grounds.
