Bahrain votes on new parliament

25/11/2006| IslamWeb

The people of the Gulf state of Bahrain have begun voting to elect a new parliament and local councils.

It is the second time people have been able to vote for representatives at a national level under a new system introduced by the King of Bahrain.

On Friday, about 2,000 people protested in the capital Manama demanding the resignation of the prime minister over alleged electoral fraud.

The former government adviser who made the allegations has been deported.

Salah al-Bandar had accused the government of plotting to ensure Sunni Muslim dominance in the elections.

Protesters also accused Prime Minister Khalifah bin Salman al-Khalifah of granting citizenship to foreign workers in order to increase the proportion of non-Shia voters.

Foreign workers, many of them Asian, make up approximately one-third of Bahrain's 700,000 people.

Voter turnout is expected to be high.

Shia voters and other opposition groups boycotted the first parliamentary elections in 2002 because they wanted more constitutional change, says the BBC's correspondent in the Persian Gulf, Julia Wheeler.

The result was a parliament of mostly pro-government MPs.

Many people have been disappointed with the efforts of those elected the first time around, says our correspondent, and want to see change implemented more quickly.

Campaigning has been lively and impassioned with economic and social issues dominating the agenda.

Unemployment among Bahraini nationals is a worry in the context of large numbers of mostly Asian migrant workers says our correspondent.

Lack of housing and unequal distribution of wealth in the kingdom are also concerns.

Photo Caption

Bahraini man walks past election posters