(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Polls have been opened in parliamentary by-elections in Bahrain, as the regime continues the crackdown on protesters.
The government has set up security across the nation, as more clashes are expected with oppositionist activists calling for a boycott on elections.
There is an interview with Maher Salloum, Political Commentator, to share his opinion on this issue.
Q: Reports say the turnout has been low so far. Are you surprised?
Salloum: Well no, I am not surprised specially by the royal family in the Kingdom in Bahrain. Now I was just viewing those pictures. I strongly condemn attacking any woman on the streets in Bahrain and the freedom for women even at the level of hospitals, schools and universities. They were deprived of their own human rights actually on the streets and inside the associations and even companies inside Manama al Bahrain and major cities that are located around the capital it seems.
Q: Let's focus on the elections themselves. How do you generally comment on the elections in Bahrain today given the developments of the past couple of months. After all Al-Wefaq vacated the seats to protest the treatment of demonstrators during the February's unrest. How do you comment on that?
Salloum: Well I cannot see any democratic constitutional level of participation by the people for any parliamentary move under the dictatorship of this royal family. I mean treating the people as such and at the same time asking them to go and you know vote for certain poll or be part of a certain poll, democratically I do not believe that this is a democratic situation or a true natural situation in a nation or a kingdom such as Bahrain which is a unique constitutional parliamentary elections inside the area actually in the Middle East and even in the Gulf states.
Now I believe first of all violence should be stopped and the new laws that could be abided by, they should serve the interest of the people inside Bahrain whether they are oppositionist or loyalists. They should not be any first class and second class. The first class usually they fall for the Royal King himself and his own officers and major departments or ministries that they abide to his own intentions, his own dreams and his own, you know, act of let's say ambition inside his own country.
Q: What you are saying sounds very much like the democracies that we see elsewhere in the world. How possible would you say that would be in Bahrain?
Salloum: Well it is impossible under the concurrent attacks and presumably this dictatorship being perpetrated by the Royal King himself and his followers and even his own government today. I mean they did not learn the lessons of other Arab states such as Egypt, Tunisia and Libya so far. I mean a true lesson should be well developed and well understood by this Kingdom especially by the King himself, because I do not believe that this is the logical situation that needed to be allowed actually towards the nation itself. I mean the people of Bahrain.
Let us give them their own human rights, civil rights. At least let us cover what is going on inside Bahrain as such like Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. I mean they are monitoring the media because media was monitored by the Royal King himself and will not be allowed by the West unfortunately.
If the West is asking for freedom of expression, freedom of allowing others actually such oppositionists to express themselves in such an occasion, political confronting inside Bahrain, then there should be a freedom of the media expression here, let them allow international media coverage I mean the Royal King himself and so therefore more pressure will be pressuring himself, I mean the King and his own government inside Bahrain.
Q: Tell me, what can be said about the aspiration of Bahrainis? Honestly, should they or should not they pend their hopes on the outcome of these elections?
Salloum: I always pend my hopes by any democratic elections but I hope this is an election that is so transparent that it will better represent the people and oppositionists or the opposition inside Bahrain so therefore there would be an equal representation by any person or any member of the parliament or any candidate that is coming inside this new parliament in Bahrain.
I do not believe until now a strong consensus between old parties involved in such political occasion inside Bahrain. I believe that the King should show more leniency, more patience and allow the oppositionists to express themselves as much as possible, as more transparent than before. I mean democratic values will be disseminated.
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The government has set up security across the nation, as more clashes are expected with oppositionist activists calling for a boycott on elections.
There is an interview with Maher Salloum, Political Commentator, to share his opinion on this issue.
Q: Reports say the turnout has been low so far. Are you surprised?
Salloum: Well no, I am not surprised specially by the royal family in the Kingdom in Bahrain. Now I was just viewing those pictures. I strongly condemn attacking any woman on the streets in Bahrain and the freedom for women even at the level of hospitals, schools and universities. They were deprived of their own human rights actually on the streets and inside the associations and even companies inside Manama al Bahrain and major cities that are located around the capital it seems.
Q: Let's focus on the elections themselves. How do you generally comment on the elections in Bahrain today given the developments of the past couple of months. After all Al-Wefaq vacated the seats to protest the treatment of demonstrators during the February's unrest. How do you comment on that?
Salloum: Well I cannot see any democratic constitutional level of participation by the people for any parliamentary move under the dictatorship of this royal family. I mean treating the people as such and at the same time asking them to go and you know vote for certain poll or be part of a certain poll, democratically I do not believe that this is a democratic situation or a true natural situation in a nation or a kingdom such as Bahrain which is a unique constitutional parliamentary elections inside the area actually in the Middle East and even in the Gulf states.
Now I believe first of all violence should be stopped and the new laws that could be abided by, they should serve the interest of the people inside Bahrain whether they are oppositionist or loyalists. They should not be any first class and second class. The first class usually they fall for the Royal King himself and his own officers and major departments or ministries that they abide to his own intentions, his own dreams and his own, you know, act of let's say ambition inside his own country.
Q: What you are saying sounds very much like the democracies that we see elsewhere in the world. How possible would you say that would be in Bahrain?
Salloum: Well it is impossible under the concurrent attacks and presumably this dictatorship being perpetrated by the Royal King himself and his followers and even his own government today. I mean they did not learn the lessons of other Arab states such as Egypt, Tunisia and Libya so far. I mean a true lesson should be well developed and well understood by this Kingdom especially by the King himself, because I do not believe that this is the logical situation that needed to be allowed actually towards the nation itself. I mean the people of Bahrain.
Let us give them their own human rights, civil rights. At least let us cover what is going on inside Bahrain as such like Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. I mean they are monitoring the media because media was monitored by the Royal King himself and will not be allowed by the West unfortunately.
If the West is asking for freedom of expression, freedom of allowing others actually such oppositionists to express themselves in such an occasion, political confronting inside Bahrain, then there should be a freedom of the media expression here, let them allow international media coverage I mean the Royal King himself and so therefore more pressure will be pressuring himself, I mean the King and his own government inside Bahrain.
Q: Tell me, what can be said about the aspiration of Bahrainis? Honestly, should they or should not they pend their hopes on the outcome of these elections?
Salloum: I always pend my hopes by any democratic elections but I hope this is an election that is so transparent that it will better represent the people and oppositionists or the opposition inside Bahrain so therefore there would be an equal representation by any person or any member of the parliament or any candidate that is coming inside this new parliament in Bahrain.
I do not believe until now a strong consensus between old parties involved in such political occasion inside Bahrain. I believe that the King should show more leniency, more patience and allow the oppositionists to express themselves as much as possible, as more transparent than before. I mean democratic values will be disseminated.
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