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Iran-backed Shi'ites in Bahrain charge regime seeks to rig vote

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, November 24, 2006

ABU DHABI — Bahrain's Shi'ite opposition charged the regime has recruited the military and security forces in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

Bahrain hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet as well as the British Royal Navy presence in the Gulf.

Ali Salman, leader of the Shi'ite-aligned Al Wefaq Society, said the opposition could win 25 out of the 40 seats in parliament. Salman, one of 207 candidates for parliament, said the opposition would seek to reform Bahrain's political system, Middle East Newsline reported.

Five Al Wefaq candidates have been identified as Iranian-trained Shi'ite clerics.

Opposition sources said soldiers and police would be ordered to vote for pro-government Sunni candidates in parliamentary elections on Nov. 25. The sources said the government has been concerned that the Shi'ite opposition would capture a majority of the 40 seats in parliament.

Ibrahim Sharif, secretary-general of the National Democratic Action Society, said the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry have sought to force security personnel to vote for the government. Sharif said the ministries have taken away the identity cards and passports of soldiers and police and handed them to the prosecutor's office.

"It may be a ploy by both ministries to give the impression to the staff that they are monitoring their votes and compel them to vote for pro-government candidates," Sharif said.

The Interior Ministry has denied the allegation. Earlier, the opposition reported that the ministry, in an attempt to defeat a Shi'ite electoral challenge, has provided voting rights to tens of thousands of Sunni foreign nationals who recently acquired citizenship.

"If we find the necessary cooperation, we will be highly positive," Salman told a rally of thousands of people on Nov. 21. "But if we find that the government or one of its ministers is stalling people's interests, then we will hold them responsible."


Al Wefaq and other opposition groups have called on the government to prevent police and soldiers from voting. The groups said these people could not be trusted to independently select candidates. A former military officer and member of the royal family has also joined the race for parliament.

Sunni parties, including those aligned with the Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood, have sought to form an alliance to defeat the Shi'ite challenge. The Sunnis, led by the Al Assalah party, have warned that a Shi'ite-dominated parliament would undermine religion in Bahrain.

"Whenever religious candidates speak to the people, they always resort to strong warnings that they would be punished by God for allowing non-religious people to reach the parliament," Huda Al Mutawa, a liberal candidate, said.


Copyright © 2006 East West Services, Inc.

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