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Bahrain holds elections with ban on opposition groups
Source: Reuters
WORLD NEWS NOVEMBER 23, 2018 / 10:18 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
Bahrain holds elections with ban on opposition groups
Aziz El Yaakoubi, Nafisa Eltahir
5 MIN READ
DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrainis voted on Saturday in a parliamentary election from which opposition groups have been barred, amid a crackdown on dissent in the small Sunni-led, Western-allied kingdom.
Activists had called for a boycott of the vote, describing it as a “farce”. The government said the election is “democratic” and put voter turnout at 67 percent.
The Sunni ruling Al Khalifa family has kept a lid on dissent since the Shi’ite opposition staged a failed uprising in 2011. Saudi Arabia sent in troops to help crush that unrest in a mark of concern that any power-sharing concession by Bahrain could inspire Saudi Arabia’s own Shi’ite minority.
Riyadh regards the neighboring island nation, which does not possess vast oil wealth like other Gulf states, as a critical ally in its proxy wars with Iran in the Middle East.
-snip-
Bahrain holds elections with ban on opposition groups
Aziz El Yaakoubi, Nafisa Eltahir
5 MIN READ
DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrainis voted on Saturday in a parliamentary election from which opposition groups have been barred, amid a crackdown on dissent in the small Sunni-led, Western-allied kingdom.
Activists had called for a boycott of the vote, describing it as a “farce”. The government said the election is “democratic” and put voter turnout at 67 percent.
The Sunni ruling Al Khalifa family has kept a lid on dissent since the Shi’ite opposition staged a failed uprising in 2011. Saudi Arabia sent in troops to help crush that unrest in a mark of concern that any power-sharing concession by Bahrain could inspire Saudi Arabia’s own Shi’ite minority.
Riyadh regards the neighboring island nation, which does not possess vast oil wealth like other Gulf states, as a critical ally in its proxy wars with Iran in the Middle East.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bahrain-politics-election/bahrain-holds-elections-with-ban-on-opposition-groups-idUSKCN1NT038