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| Arabia |
| 'Bahrain election results pre-decided' |
| 2010-10-23 |
| [Iran Press TV] Opposition groups in Bahrain have denounced the country's electoral process, saying the results of the upcoming parliamentary polls are pre-decided. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) says the Sunni-dominated government will manipulate the forthcoming elections through electoral rules and systems set by the Executive Authority which enables the government to control the formation of the High Commission for Elections and sketching out the electoral districts on the basis of sectarian and political loyalties. The High Commission for Elections has reportedly distributed electoral districts in a sectarian manner. While the population of Bahrain is predominantly Shia, the commission has decided to allow one candidate to run for every 12,000 people in Shia-dominated areas, while in the Sunni-dominated areas every 4,000 people will have one candidate. The group has also described the government's decision to grant the immediate right to vote to tens of thousands of people, who have been granted citizenship based on their political and sectarian belongings and loyalties, as another effort by the government to manipulate the elections. BCHR says it has based its claims on a copy of a secret document the organization recently obtained, which spoke in detail about the government's plan to manipulate the electoral process to make sure that their preferred candidates win. The prominent rights group has also accused the government of disrupting the electoral process by banning opposition candidates and political parties running for elections from broadcasting their election campaigns and ads through the radio and television and instead broadcasting programs, which directly or indirectly, influence the voters to vote for pro-ruling family candidates. Manama has prevented international and regional organizations from monitoring the media coverage of the upcoming elections, saying monitoring media in Bahrain is a domestic issue. Bahraini authorities have also dissolved the Bahraini Association for Human Rights, the only independent Bahraini human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... organization authorized to monitor elections. Since mid-August, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, Bahrain has jugged hundreds of Shia muscle, accusing them of having links to beturbanned goons and conspiring to overthrow the Bahraini government. According to human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... groups, the Shia detainees were ill-treated and tortured during interrogations and were forced to make false statements. Many opposition parties have decided to boycott the elections due to be held on 23 October. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 I'm back, and there is now enough food in the house, so here goes. I'm italicizing what Spuns Protector of the Munchkins4769 wrote, and setting my answers in normal typeface, because that is the convention here at Rantburg. (the results of the upcoming parliamentary polls are pre-decided) - this is a statement without evidence. Agreed. But the article was from Iran Press TV, who can't be expected to differentiate between opinion and simple fact. Not because they are Shiites, but because they are a propaganda organ of the ruling Mullahcracy. Someday, when the Iranian people overthrow the current regime and establish a true democracy, their journalists will learn to write the unembroidered truth. (The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)) - solve internal matters within your society first before speaking about the matters of the country. We have a saying in America: Let not the perfect be the enemy of the good. If no organization or person could speak until they had reached an ideal state, nothing could ever get said. There is, after all, no perfection this side of Heaven. (While the population of Bahrain is predominantly Shia) - you claim to be Bahrain Human Rights Society but you always speak comparing between Shia and Sunnis while both sides are Bahrainis. Stop this sectarian tone. Again, this comes from Iran. They can't help it. It would be interesting for those of us paying attention from outside to know if the BCHR is truly a native Bahraini organization, or a stooge of Iran's mullahs. Separately, the CIA Factbook, usually so helpful in resolving these matters, says on the subject of Bahraini religion unhelpfully Religions: Wikipedia is more helpful, to whit There are no official figures for the proportion of Shia and Sunni among the Muslims of Bahrain. Unofficial sources, such as the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, estimate it to be approximately 33% Sunni and 66% Shia.[84] The vast majority of Muslims are shia, with other estimates at almost 80%.[85][86] And congratulations on accepting both Jews and Baha'i in your population! I am impressed. At this moment I think only Iran in the Muslim Middle East also has both, but they haven't dealt with that very well, which is why the world centers for both are in Israel. (The group has also described the government's decision to grant the immediate right to vote to tens of thousands of people, who have been granted citizenship based on their political and sectarian belongings and loyalties, as another effort by the government to manipulate the elections.) - those who got citizenship recently are also Bahrainis, don't you want to support their rights. Is this society only for supporting those 'who got citizenship since a bit longer time'. Most countries in the world base their idea of citizenship on "blood and soil" as the Nazis used to say before they were defeated. Very few accept gracefully the idea of recent immigrants as full citizens, no matter what the piece of paper says. You are to be congratulated that Bahrain has the modern view. (BCHR says it has based its claims on a copy of a secret document the organization recently obtained) - a statement with no supporting evidence. Of course. It's a secret document. (The prominent rights group has also accused the government of disrupting the electoral process by banning opposition candidates and political parties running for elections from broadcasting their election campaigns and ads through the radio and television and instead broadcasting programs, which directly or indirectly, influence the voters to vote for pro-ruling family candidates.) - For this statement refer to the laws of publishing & broadcasting. No country will allow provocative broadcasts in the country. Do you want everyone to start his own radio broadcasting. Bahrain is a small country where the candidates and voters can meet during the election campaigns. A legitimate point. But actually, that is exactly how we do it in America... except for having individual radio stations. That's much too expensive, of course, except on the internet where a great many people do have their own radio stations. Instead, all the radio and television stations are required to accept and broadcast the paid commercials of every properly registered candidate, and even of advocacy groups supporting any of the candidates. The only caveat is that the political advertisements must meet the same standard of truthfulness as commercial advertisements. (Some of them are highly amusing, and some of those deliberately so.) We also have publicly televised debates of the candidates for key offices like state governor and state senator -- some of just the candidates from the two major parties for a given office (the two parties are currently called the Democrats and the Republicans, and they function as government and opposition, depending who got more votes for that particular office in the last election), some of all the candidates for a given office. *sigh* This can get a bit busy during presidential elections, but this is an off year. And all the local news organizations present each candidate with a list of questions, then print the answers and put them up on their website. But we aren't a small country, which has disadvantages as well as advantages. (Manama has prevented international and regional organizations from monitoring the media coverage of the upcoming elections, saying monitoring media in Bahrain is a domestic issue.) - this is wrong there are representatives of almost all recognized media companies present in Bahrain during the election 2010 to cover this democratic event. Including Al Jazeera and the Associated Press and such? Well done. (Bahraini authorities have also dissolved the Bahraini Association for Human Rights, the only independent Bahraini human rights) - this is wrong. Salman Kamaleddin has resigned by himself that resulted in internal society problems. I assume Mr. Kamaleddin was the head of the organization? Why did he resign? The answer will impact our understanding of the cause of the society's problems. (Since mid-August, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, Bahrain has jugged hundreds of Shia muscle, accusing them of having links to beturbanned goons and conspiring to overthrow the Bahraini government.) - come on you are again talking about Shia only. You could have used the word Bahrainis only because you are Bahrain Human Rights Society. Why don't you talk about Sunnis who are/were in jail in other countries. We aren't interested in other countries at the moment, only Bahrain. Other countries get their own articles when they have elections, or anything else interesting occurs. And we have seen a number of articles here at Rantburg recently about mass arrests of Shiite Bahraini political leaders, putatively for plotting terror acts against the government. This may or may not be true -- we had only open source articles to inform our thinking until you posted here today. In the interest of fairness, I have underlined above those word choices that were made by the man who posted the article, and are not original to the Iran PressTV reporter. (the Shia detainees were ill-treated and tortured during interrogations and were forced to make false statements.) - please stop claiming without a proof of what you are claiming. We have no evidence that either you or the reporter is the one telling the truth. Evidence would be appreciated, although I realize how hard it is to prove a negative without photos. (Many opposition parties have decided to boycott the elections due to be held on 23 October.) - No opposition party has boycotted the elections 2010, including the major opposition party Al Wefak. Good to know. Have they done so in the past, and if so, why? Thank you again, Spuns Protector of the Munchkins4769. I'm sorry it took so long to answer, but you deserved a proper and thoughtful response, which took me the better part of the past hour. I look forward to your next post. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-10-23 23:49 |
| #3 Just to be polite... you realize this is a site aggregator, and that while we _quote_ Iran's Press TV, it isn't because we necessarily think they're always stating the exact, absolute, unvarnished truth. Fred in particular thinks it's instructive to pay attention to the way they polish, varnish, and sometimes apply liberal amounts of paint thinner to the truth. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-10-23 23:01 |
| #2 Thank you for writing, Spuns Protector of the Munchkins4769. That was indeed a thoughtful post, apparently from one familiar with the issues, and deserves a thoughtful response. I have to run out to the grocery store to get some coffee for my husband's breakfast, but as soon as I return, I'll address the issues you raise. Thank you for your patience. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-10-23 21:27 |
| #1 (the results of the upcoming parliamentary polls are pre-decided) - this is a statement without evidence. (The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)) - solve internal matters within your society first before speaking about the matters of the country. (While the population of Bahrain is predominantly Shia) - you claim to be Bahrain Human Rights Society but you always speak comparing between Shia and Sunnis while both sides are Bahrainis. Stop this sectarian tone. (The group has also described the government's decision to grant the immediate right to vote to tens of thousands of people, who have been granted citizenship based on their political and sectarian belongings and loyalties, as another effort by the government to manipulate the elections.) - those who got citizenship recently are also Bahrainis, don't you want to support their rights. Is this society only for supporting those 'who got citizenship since a bit longer time'. (BCHR says it has based its claims on a copy of a secret document the organization recently obtained) - a statement with no supporting evidence. (The prominent rights group has also accused the government of disrupting the electoral process by banning opposition candidates and political parties running for elections from broadcasting their election campaigns and ads through the radio and television and instead broadcasting programs, which directly or indirectly, influence the voters to vote for pro-ruling family candidates.) - For this statement refer to the laws of publishing & broadcasting. No country will allow provocative broadcasts in the country. Do you want everyone to start his own radio broadcasting. Bahrain is a small country where the candidates and voters can meet during the election campaigns. (Manama has prevented international and regional organizations from monitoring the media coverage of the upcoming elections, saying monitoring media in Bahrain is a domestic issue.) - this is wrong there are representatives of almost all recognized media companies present in Bahrain during the election 2010 to cover this democratic event. (Bahraini authorities have also dissolved the Bahraini Association for Human Rights, the only independent Bahraini human rights) - this is wrong. Salman Kamaleddin has resigned by himself that resulted in internal society problems. (Since mid-August, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, Bahrain has jugged hundreds of Shia muscle, accusing them of having links to beturbanned goons and conspiring to overthrow the Bahraini government.) - come on you are again talking about Shia only. You could have used the word Bahrainis only because you are Bahrain Human Rights Society. Why don't you talk about Sunnis who are/were in jail in other countries. (the Shia detainees were ill-treated and tortured during interrogations and were forced to make false statements.) - please stop claiming without a proof of what you are claiming. (Many opposition parties have decided to boycott the elections due to be held on 23 October.) - No opposition party has boycotted the elections 2010, including the major opposition party Al Wefak. |
| Posted by: Spuns Protector of the Munchkins4769 2010-10-23 19:17 |