Experts Cast Doubt On Upcoming Bahrain Elections

Bahrainis head to the polls Saturday, but experts have questioned the value of a parliamentary election in which dissolved opposition groups have been banned from taking part.

Dubai, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Nov, 2018 ) :Bahrainis head to the polls Saturday, but experts have questioned the value of a parliamentary election in which dissolved opposition groups have been banned from taking part.

The country's two main opposition groups, the Shiite Al-Wefaq and secular Waad, were barred from fielding candidates, prompting renewed calls for a boycott.

The tiny Gulf kingdom has been hit by ongoing unrest since 2011, when security forces crushed Shiite-led protests demanding a constitutional monarchy and an elected prime minister.

The Sunni-ruled country of around 1.4 million people has a majority Shiite population, according to unofficial estimates contested by the government.

Neil Partrick, a specialist in Gulf Arab politics, said Bahrain's elections "have lost all practical and political meaning" since the 2010 boycott by Al-Wefaq -- the main movement representing the country's Shiite population.

"The subsequent outlawing of Al-Wefaq, and of the relatively liberal, cross-sect, Waad trend, has merely underlined the meaninglessness of Bahraini elections," he told AFP.

"Elections can still serve as a prestige vehicle for individuals seeking to present themselves as representative of the wider national community, however they have no political or practical substance regardless of whether boycotts are called for or adhered to."