In response to the opposition’s call for a mass protest, around 200 thousand Bahraini citizens participated in an exceptional gigantic rally, Friday 19th September 2014, flooding Budayia highway, west of the capital Manama. The masses protested the falsification of the popular will and confiscation of national demands and the shameful attempts to circumvent the rightful demands raised by the people over the past three and half years.
Peaceful protesters waved the Bahraini national flags, and chanted slogans emphasizing their position to boycott the upcoming elections, unless serious and genuine reforms are made to achieve the people’s aspiration for democracy. The protesters also categorically refused the mockery solutions proposed by the regime, attempting to bypass their fundamental demands.
Al-Wefaq Secretary-General, Sheikh Ali Salman, said that not a single sentence of the regime’s proposal represents the opposition, or the people of Bahrain. “The regime’s proposal refuses the national demands, strengthens the authoritarianism and deepens the roots of the crisis. It is a trap for the honored people to accept to be slaves. We will never accept to be enslaved”, he addressed the masses at the end of today’s rally.
Sheikh Ali Salman made clear the opposition’s decision to boycott the upcoming sham parliamentary elections, he said, “Our message to the Authority; we refuse to participate in gerrymandered elections. We, as a people and political powers, want to participate, but in what? The regime must respond to our legitimate demands”.
Addressing the international community, Al Wefaq’s Secretary-General said achieving political consensus will serve the interests of Bahrain, the Gulf and the world. He called on the world to take the right side and support the people. Furthermore, he said the international community must do more than softy statements, stressing that it has a moral and humanitarian duty towards the people of Bahrain, by bringing an immediate end to the human rights violations and finding an inclusive political agreement between the people and the Authority.
/129