However, some columnists and writers who have their ears to the ground see the elections as a fight between the traditionalists and modernists.
“There is this fight between the forces of change and the status quo,” Sameera Rajab, columnist and member of the Upper House of Parliament, told Arab News. According to her, the modernists are unfortunately outnumbered by the traditionalists. “Compared to the traditionalists, the modernists are not organized. They have not learned the art of winning elections. They cannot make rhetorical speeches. They avoid confrontation,” she says rather ruefully. “They give up even before the fight has begun, such is the universal nature of modernist-liberals.”
Rajab says traditionalists among all the sects share the same political outlook. “They hate changes and are in a perpetual state of agitation ... they are not pro-choice,” she said. “My fear is that these elections will continue to propel hardliners.” However, she says, people will eventually see through their machinations.
“This is only the third election. We are a nascent democracy. Within a few more years, people will realize that these hardliners have duped them. I am very confident that the proponents of political Islam will be defeated. For them, the welfare of the people is not paramount. They want power, come what may. This trend will certainly not last long,” she adds.
She says businesspeople have always shied away from elections. “They don’t want anything to do with it. Their focus is the country’s development and economic resurgence. They have no time to cultivate voters and plot victories. It is in such a scenario that these political groupings of all hues have thrived.”
Asharq Al-Awsat columnist Samir Atallah, who is among the many international media invitees to witness the elections, also seems disillusioned. He feels elections in the Arab states have not produced the best results.
“I wish the Arab electorate would be as liberal and farsighted as the rulers. Take Kuwait, for example. The elections there produced very bad results. They brought into power people with a very narrow focus. Elections are supposed to bring in the best to power. That will create good political dynamics,” he said.
What Atallah indirectly meant was that fundamentalist forces were using the platform of elections to gain legitimacy. “They are in the elections for a very specific, narrow reason. That leads to defeating the whole purpose of holding elections,” he said. Media mogul Anwar Abdulrahman, writing in Gulf Daily News on Friday, said theocrats won handsomely in the last two elections.
“Do they really represent the people of Bahrain?” he asked. “The world views our nation as an open-minded society ... the region considers it the most educated one -- a pioneer of great change. (Therefore) the responsibility of the voters becomes greater, weightier and more relevant.”
He reminded Bahrainis that advanced nations are not developed by theocrats, but technocrats.
“Our modern world is crafted by the practical skills of physicians, engineers, builders, businessmen and educators,” he wrote and signed off with what he called a heart-to-heart message to all Bahrainis: “Only vote for those who will give you more freedom, more opportunities and more equal rights.”
Clearly Abdulrahman was siding with modernists against the traditionalists. The results on Sunday will indicate whose side Bahrainis are on.
