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Bahrain women, Shiite opposition eye bigger role through polls
Agence France-Presse - 23 November, 2006
Bahrainis go to the polls with women and the Shiite
opposition hoping to break a Sunni Islamist and pro-government hold on
parliament, amid an alleged plot to keep Shiites under-represented.
The Shiite majority, which has faced continuous discrimination in a country ruled by a Sunni dynasty, is out in force to achieve recognition, to the backdrop of Shiite ascendancy in neighboring Iraq and Iranian defiance over its nuclear ambitions.
But the main Shiite faction has had to ally itself with Sunni liberals and leftists, who like the Shiite opposition had boycotted the last legislative elections in 2002 over discontent with reforms introduced by King Hamad.
Candidate Munira Fakhrou, a Sunni female member of a leftist association, demarcates the lines of confrontation, in which 207 hopefuls, including 18 women, are participating.
She is taking on Salah Ali, head of the Sunni National Islamic Tribune Association, which had seven MPs in the outgoing 40-member elected assembly.
In doing so, she is being backed by the Shiite Islamic National Accord Association (INAA), the main political formation of the disgruntled community.
"Day after day, I feel more optimistic. Large numbers (of voters) said they will vote for me," Fakhrou told AFP.
A fellow female candidate, Latifa al-Quohoud, has already become the first woman MP in the country's history as she was unopposed in her constituency.
Thirty-nine seats remain up for grabs, but women are generally not expected to clinch more than a couple of those. Some 295,000 Bahrainis are eligible to vote.
Fakhrou complained about an Islamist campaign waged to dissuade voters from casting their ballots for women, using religious pretexts.
"Sunni Islamists are bringing up sayings (attributed to Islam's Prophet Mohammad) which say women should not lead," she said, referring to Islamist associations which had 13 MPs.
Political groups are allowed to form associations in Bahrain while political parties continue to b
The outgoing chamber was the first to be elected since parliament was scrapped in 1975, following major reforms which included turning Bahrain into a constitutional monarchy.
These reforms however split legislative power between the elected chamber and an equally-numbered consultative council appointed by the monarch.
"We want to retrieve the legislative power, putting it in the hands of the people," Fakhrou said.
Bestowing legislative power on the appointed council had prompted the Shiite-led opposition to boycott the last elections, although a few Shiites did not join the boycott and were voted in.
This time round, the main Shiite groups have opted for trying to change the system from within.
"Despite all the political and security crises and all the disappointments, the Council of Muslim Scholars believes that taking part in the elections is the best choice to counter this situation," the Shiite spiritual body said after a meeting with King Hamad in early October.
Shiites were behind a wave of violence in the 1990s which rocked the small Gulf archipelago.
Sheikh Ali Salman, a young Shiite cleric heading the INAA, is already stretching a hand to all groups to cooperate in the post-election period on issues of concern to the average citizen.
"I am optimistic that there will be a wide space for agreement in the forthcoming (parliamentary) experiment," he said Saturday in a televised live debate with other candidates.
"It (parliament) will be productive in the interest of the people ... (But) the government should deal with it in a positive way," Salman said, describing the current administration as "lazy."
Disappointment with the outgoing parliament and the government appears to be a common feeling among many Bahrainis regardless of their confessional backgrounds.
"We got nothing from those deputies," decried a Sunni taxi-driver who said he voted in 2002 for an Islamist candidate.
Unlike most Gulf countries, Bahrain has dwindling oil reserves, with a modest production of less than 40,000 barrels per day, making it difficult to cater for infrastructural needs.
Meanwhile, Salman also wants an electoral change which he believes would guarantee better representation and reduce vote rigging through vote-buying.
"We want larger constituencies," he said, pointing out that smaller voting districts "facilitate the role of political money."
Concern over manipulation of the vote has grown among Shiites following reports of an alleged plot by some figures in the government to rig the polls to maintain Sunni domination of the Gulf state.
The controversial report by purported British spy Salah al-Bandar claimed to have uncovered a secret organisation operating within the government to "deprive an essential part of the population of this country of their rights" -- an allusion to Shiites.
Municipal elections will also take place in Bahrain on Saturday, with second rounds in both polls slated for December 2.
The Shiite majority, which has faced continuous discrimination in a country ruled by a Sunni dynasty, is out in force to achieve recognition, to the backdrop of Shiite ascendancy in neighboring Iraq and Iranian defiance over its nuclear ambitions.
But the main Shiite faction has had to ally itself with Sunni liberals and leftists, who like the Shiite opposition had boycotted the last legislative elections in 2002 over discontent with reforms introduced by King Hamad.
Candidate Munira Fakhrou, a Sunni female member of a leftist association, demarcates the lines of confrontation, in which 207 hopefuls, including 18 women, are participating.
She is taking on Salah Ali, head of the Sunni National Islamic Tribune Association, which had seven MPs in the outgoing 40-member elected assembly.
In doing so, she is being backed by the Shiite Islamic National Accord Association (INAA), the main political formation of the disgruntled community.
"Day after day, I feel more optimistic. Large numbers (of voters) said they will vote for me," Fakhrou told AFP.
A fellow female candidate, Latifa al-Quohoud, has already become the first woman MP in the country's history as she was unopposed in her constituency.
Thirty-nine seats remain up for grabs, but women are generally not expected to clinch more than a couple of those. Some 295,000 Bahrainis are eligible to vote.
Fakhrou complained about an Islamist campaign waged to dissuade voters from casting their ballots for women, using religious pretexts.
"Sunni Islamists are bringing up sayings (attributed to Islam's Prophet Mohammad) which say women should not lead," she said, referring to Islamist associations which had 13 MPs.
Political groups are allowed to form associations in Bahrain while political parties continue to b
The outgoing chamber was the first to be elected since parliament was scrapped in 1975, following major reforms which included turning Bahrain into a constitutional monarchy.
These reforms however split legislative power between the elected chamber and an equally-numbered consultative council appointed by the monarch.
"We want to retrieve the legislative power, putting it in the hands of the people," Fakhrou said.
Bestowing legislative power on the appointed council had prompted the Shiite-led opposition to boycott the last elections, although a few Shiites did not join the boycott and were voted in.
This time round, the main Shiite groups have opted for trying to change the system from within.
"Despite all the political and security crises and all the disappointments, the Council of Muslim Scholars believes that taking part in the elections is the best choice to counter this situation," the Shiite spiritual body said after a meeting with King Hamad in early October.
Shiites were behind a wave of violence in the 1990s which rocked the small Gulf archipelago.
Sheikh Ali Salman, a young Shiite cleric heading the INAA, is already stretching a hand to all groups to cooperate in the post-election period on issues of concern to the average citizen.
"I am optimistic that there will be a wide space for agreement in the forthcoming (parliamentary) experiment," he said Saturday in a televised live debate with other candidates.
"It (parliament) will be productive in the interest of the people ... (But) the government should deal with it in a positive way," Salman said, describing the current administration as "lazy."
Disappointment with the outgoing parliament and the government appears to be a common feeling among many Bahrainis regardless of their confessional backgrounds.
"We got nothing from those deputies," decried a Sunni taxi-driver who said he voted in 2002 for an Islamist candidate.
Unlike most Gulf countries, Bahrain has dwindling oil reserves, with a modest production of less than 40,000 barrels per day, making it difficult to cater for infrastructural needs.
Meanwhile, Salman also wants an electoral change which he believes would guarantee better representation and reduce vote rigging through vote-buying.
"We want larger constituencies," he said, pointing out that smaller voting districts "facilitate the role of political money."
Concern over manipulation of the vote has grown among Shiites following reports of an alleged plot by some figures in the government to rig the polls to maintain Sunni domination of the Gulf state.
The controversial report by purported British spy Salah al-Bandar claimed to have uncovered a secret organisation operating within the government to "deprive an essential part of the population of this country of their rights" -- an allusion to Shiites.
Municipal elections will also take place in Bahrain on Saturday, with second rounds in both polls slated for December 2.