Al-Wefaq: Removing the membership of elected members is international precedent

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Al Wefaq stated that the removing of the membership of a number of elected municipal representatives is an act of revenge against their political opinions and an international precedent. Al Wefaq described the decision of the appeal court not to reinstate the five municipal representatives as an arbitrary and politically motivated decision that goes back to the national safety period.Adding that such decision is one of many that are used by dictatorships to manipulate institutions and impact on the decision making of elected councils.They went on to stress that the dismissal of elected municipal representatives, who gained legitimacy from the people, shows the arbitrary nature of the authorities and proves the continuation of the revengeful policies that saw hundreds of students and workers dismissed last year.It also reveals how little care the regime gives to the wishes of the people and chooses instead to ignore them. Al Wefaq stated that those representatives who were dismissed achieved more than 90% of the vote in their elections.Al Wefaq added that this incident, along with others, reflects the necessity of an independent judiciary as part of a system with separated powers, in which no one branch has control over the other, evenly distributed voting constituencies to ensure real representation and parliament with full powers.The judgement proves that the claims of implementing the BICI recommendations regarding freedom of expression and opinion do not match with the reality in Bahrain, where municipal members can be removed for simply expressing their opinion.Their removal was based on their participation in protests and their representation to the United Nations, as confirmed by BICI report (paragraph 1281) and concluded that the authorities excluded from the public debate any view that disagrees with their own. The judiciary’s support for such decisions confirms the denial of freedom of expression endemic to the system as a whole and not exclusive only to the executive power.Al Wefaq concluded that it had directed all concerned departments to study the courts decision and its effects, who will decide what steps should be taken and will announce later what shall be done. It promised that such a decision would not go without being challenged.Those representatives who had their memberships removed are: From the Central Municipal Council, The Vice-President Adel Al-Sitri, from the first constituency Hussain Al-Oraibi, from the fifth constituency AbdulRidha Zuhair. In addition, Dr. Mohammed Abbas’ membership from the Muharraq Council was removed. All of the above are from the Al Wefaq Municipal bloc./129