Bahrain Mirror: Protests were staged in Bahrain on Friday, on the eve of the sham elections, which are boycotted by the people of Bahrain. The demonstrators demanded that the sham elections be boycotted, seeing that they serve the political trajectory of the ruling class, which is normalization with the Israeli occupation.

Protesters called for boycotting the elections and showing solidarity with all prisoners in the Bahraini prisons, mainly the movement leaders. 

Amnesty announced earlier that Bahrain's upcoming elections are held amidst political repression, adding that the Manama authorities have committed human rights violations throughout a decade and banned political opposition.

On September 22, six Bahraini opposition societies issued a joint statement announcing boycotting the elections, which are scheduled to be held on November 12.

According to a royal order published by Bahraini media outlets last September, the parliamentary elections will be held on November 12, and the run-off (in cases where required) on November 19, provided that they will be held outside the country in embassies and affiliated missions on November 8 and the run-off in the middle of the same month.

The Bahraini House of Representatives is a legislative council established under the 2002 Constitution and consists of 40 members elected by direct secret public vote. The last parliamentary elections were held in late 2018. The term of the House of Representatives is 4 years from the date of its first meeting. 

Since February 14, 2011, Bahrain has been witnessing a broad popular movement demanding political and democratic reform in the country. However, the authorities have confronted this movement with campaigns of repression, and the imprisonment of human rights and political activists, as well as banning the work of opposition political societies, amid a significant deterioration of the human rights situation, and an exacerbation of the economic and social crises the Bahraini people suffer from.

Arabic Version