MANAMA, Nov 25: Bahrainis flocked to the polls in the small Gulf state's national elections on Saturday amid tension between the government and the Shia opposition, which boycotted the vote in the pro-western kingdom in 2002.
The main opposition group has warned the Sunni-led government that any attempt to rig the parliamentary and municipal elections would be vigorously opposed.
Election officials deny charges of irregularities and say those who question the polls without proof will be prosecuted.
Sheikh Ali Salman, head of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society that represents Shias, says his group would know the polls were rigged if it did not win 13 of parliament’s 40 seats.
Speaking as he cast his ballot, Salman said: “I'm still anxious about the transparency of these elections.”
Taking place against a backdrop of Sunni-Shia tension in nearby Iraq, the polls are the first to be contested by Wefaq in the island state of 650,000 which is around 60 percent Shia.
Bahrain, headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, is ruled by the Sunni al-Khalifa family. Since coming to power in 1999, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has introduced some reforms, including pardoning political prisoners and exiles.
Many Sunnis welcomed Shia participation in the polls and Bahrainis do not want a repeat of political unrest that gripped their country in the 1980s and 90s.
“These elections are ending the issue of sectarianism. A Sunni or Shia candidate would serve us all,” said voter Sheikha Hasan Maydan. “What happened in Iraq should not be allowed to happen here. We would be making a grave error to vote for someone because they are Sunni or Shia.”
Voting got off to a brisk but orderly start with voters lining up before polling stations opened.
Turnout was expected to top 60 percent, election officials said.
Polling stations were packed and voters in high spirits with lots of people sporting campaign shirts and hats.
“We want to elect someone who will solve the problems of the people, unemployment and poverty,” said Jihane Hamze, covered from head to toe in a black veil.—Reuters
