Bahrain Demoracy Movement to Boycott Elections Dictated by Monarchy

Bahrain opposition likely to boycott 2014 poll
23 Decemebr, 2013 – PressTV

Bahrain’s main opposition groups say they may not contest next year’s parliamentary and municipal elections due to their discontent toward the slow reform process in the country.

Members from the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society and the National Democratic Action Society (NDAS) on Monday blamed the government for lacking political will to carry out reforms, saying they have no choice but to boycott the 2014 poll.

“There has been no real progress made on the ground and because of this, Al Wefaq will not contest the 2014 election,” former al-Wefaq MP Abduljalil Al Khalil said.

Munira Fakhro, a member of the NDAS, said opposition groups had made a set of preconditions for participating in the ongoing National Dialogue and the demands should be addressed before the next year’s poll.

“If these are fulfilled, opposition groups will take part in the polls, otherwise there is no point contesting,” she said.

Oversight of the UN and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council on the National Dialogue, an end to media incitement, a public referendum on outcomes of the talks and release of political prisoners are among the demands by the opposition groups.

Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, calling for political reforms and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.

Scores have been killed, many of them under torture while in custody, and thousands more detained since the popular uprising in the Persian Gulf state.

Protesters say they will continue holding anti-regime demonstrations until their demands for the establishment of a democratically-elected government and an end to rights violations are met. …source