MANAMA, 21 October — With only three days left for Bahrain’s first parliamentary polls since 1973, electioneering has picked up momentum.
Makeshift campaign tents are humming with activity, with candidates and their supporters soliciting votes in Thursday’s landmark polling for a 40-member House of Deputies.
In the words of Cabinet Affairs Minister Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Mutawae, "given the laziness and apathy" of Bahrainis less than half of 243,449 eligible voters are expected to cast their ballots. The government has announced that it will give a certificate of appreciation to each voter.
There have been opposition calls to boycott the polls but Mutawae dismissed them, saying that "democracy is like swimming, you cannot learn without practicing."
There are 177 contestants of all hues in the fray with different political agendas but what is discernible is their common goal of raising Bahrainis’ standard of living and fighting social discrimination and institutional corruption. Most of the candidates come from religious backgrounds, with some of them choosing Qur’anic verses as their campaign logos.
Arab News spoke to a cross-section of the candidates about campaign issues. Ibrahim Al-Dosari, a candidate for the capital province and a former envoy to the United Nations, said: "Increasing the per capita income is a common objective in all countries, but in Bahrain the problem is its limited natural resources and the small size of its market."
He said the other problems are unemployment and institutional corruption. "We are in a new era and have to change our way of life. One thing that should be transparent is what is in the national exchequer."
He echoed a common campaign disdain about discrimination in Bahraini society. "We need a tough penal system to solve the problem," he said.
Osama Fathallah Ramadan, another candidate, also called for fighting discrimination. He revealed that he himself was a victim of discrimination because he is not Bahrain-born. He said: "I was discriminated against because I am not originally Bahraini, but I’d like to clarify that Bahrain had always been a warm and generous country where people from around the world had settled for centuries, and nobody can deny their contribution to building the nation. I always tell the Bahrainis in my campaign that I am the son of Bahrain although I was not born here."
Ramadan was born in Egypt.
"I am not away from the religious movement but I am against using religion to gain political mileage," he said.
Badr Abdul-Malik, a leader of the opposition, spoke about impact of religious groupings on the election campaign. He said: "It has been dormant for 30 years. Bahrainis in the ’70s were so much liberal at all levels. I remember that the Kuwaiti TV used to hire a Bahraini student musical band to perform. The Iranian revolution and the Afghanistan problem had a huge impact on Islamist groups in Bahrain."
Dr. Esa Al-Mutawae, a candidate from Al-Muharag province, defended the religious card. "First of all, I don’t think we are using religion to achieve political goals. We are adopting the Islamic law to bring salvation. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is our sole teacher."
Asked about women’s empowerment, Al-Mutawae said: "No one can prevent women from participating because it’s part of the Bahraini law now, but I would prefer other roles for women."
Abdul Hadi Marhoun, another contestant, said the campaign issues are more social than political.
"Political repression in the past had created a lot of social tension and alienation. I do believe that our social problems are an outcome of the political situation... I am sure by achieving social and economic justice, we will realize our political goals, too," he said.
Marhoun added that he also sought an end to unplanned dispensation of citizenship which had a lot of negative effect on the national identity.
