MANAMA, 29 October— Bahrainis and other communities living in the kingdom should not be intimidated by media reports attempting to portray Islamist politicians, who won big in the first round of the national elections, as "enemies of freedom," said parliament-elect Dr. Jassim Al-Mutawae.
"We are totally committed to the constitution which guarantees freedom of expression and beliefs," he told Gulf News in remarks published yesterday. "Everyone should know that we will not work outside the peripheries of the constitution."
The 38-year-old eye surgeon is one of 11 Islamist candidates who won in Bahrain’s first national elections since 1973. Of the 42 candidates in the second round on Thursday, 11 more Islamists are expected to win. This would give them a comfortable majority in the 40-member House of Deputies.
"This is normal," Al-Mutawae commented, "Bahrain is a Muslim society and the people here, by instinct, tend to go with what is really a true representative of their convictions. It was a fair process; no one forced the voters to vote us in."
The election results, he said, show that Bahrainis have rejected "secularism."
"The secularists are a small group of people who only represent themselves but unfortunately enjoy a disproportionate influence in the media which they use to spread false information about religious groups."
The Bahraini elections came in the wake of an assault on US Marines in neighboring Kuwait. One American soldier was killed in the attack.
Kuwaiti liberals claimed the attack was the result of long years of "anti-Western propaganda" decimated by religious groups. "That’s not true," Al-Mutawae said.
"Bahrain is a society that is open for all different religions and beliefs and we, as representatives of the nation in the elected house, are bound by the constitution which stipulates that all beliefs should be respected and their practices guaranteed.
"Let everyone be assured that we, as Muslims, support these freedoms and are willing to cooperate with all elements of society to safeguard them," he added.
Al-Mutawae also dismissed suggestions by some local commentators that Islamist members of Parliament will use their newly acquired powers to ban alcohol, night clubs and all other "un-Islamic" practices.
"Of course we are against such things. The people who voted us in demand we do something about it," he said." But let’s be clear these things certainly are not on our list of priorities in the current stage."
He stressed that improving living conditions and addressing unemployment were on top of the priority list of all members of the new Parliament, including the Islamists.
