October 12, 2010
The tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain is holding parliamentary elections in a few weeks — the third elections since 2001, when the country’s Sunni Muslim rulers embarked on a political reform project that included increased rights for the Shiite majority.
October 12, 2010
The tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain is holding parliamentary elections in a few weeks — the third elections since 2001, when the country’s Sunni Muslim rulers embarked on a political reform project that included increased rights for the Shiite majority.
But this year’s campaigns are gearing up under the shadow of a fierce security crackdown, including charges that Shiite activists were plotting to overthrow the government.
Sectarian tensions — and charges of Iranian interference — are on the rise in the region.
Bahrain’s road toward opening up its absolute monarchy has been bumpy, but there was always the sense that each side acted within limits. Young Shiites would rally for better housing and job opportunities. The government would arrest some of them, and they would later be pardoned. But Bahrainis say this time it feels different.
A blackened intersection near a poor Shiite neighborhood is testimony to the numerous tire-burning demonstrations staged here by young Bahrainis complaining of neglect and discrimination.
A few weeks ago the government launched a ferocious response. NGOs were muzzled or shut down, human-rights leaders were jailed, and the government announced that it had uncovered “an organized terror and destruction network” that was plotting to “incite acts of terror, rioting and sabotage” with the aim of overthrowing the government.
There were ominous references to “foreign powers” and “outside forces,” which some hard-liners took to mean Iran.
Human-rights groups say some of the detained activists were tortured, and there were other signs that this was not just another roundup to be followed by amnesty.
In an interview with the Al Hayat newspaper, Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid al-Khalifa said the detainees were part of a 200-member terrorist network engaged in what he called “a rehearsal for what similar groups are preparing to do in [neighboring] countries,” which include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.
He said the detainees had received money and training abroad, but he stopped short of accusing Iran.
The crackdown came as sectarian unease percolated through the region. Kuwait stripped a top Shiite cleric of his citizenship after remarks that were deemed offensive to Sunnis, and Bahrain did the same with one of its own Shiite clerics. In Saudi Arabia, minority Shiite figures have been quietly arrested.
Analysts say the palpable Sunni Arab angst over Iran’s regional ambitions shows no sign of easing.
In Bahrain, it hasn’t escaped the opposition’s notice that this crackdown has also served to sideline many Shiite political assets just before the elections. Khalil al-Marzooq is spokesman for al-Wefaq, the largest Shiite bloc in Parliament. He says even though the elected lower house of Parliament is effectively stymied by the government-appointed Shura Council, apparently that’s not enough for Bahrain’s rulers:
“Unfortunately, the government, when they fail to address something politically, they use two tools: sectarian and confrontation in the street,” Marzooq says. “They are forcing us by this crackdown so that Parliament is weaker. They are blocking every site, every newsletter.”
Some Bahrainis are frustrated that the international media find it so easy to portray the situation simply as sectarian strife, when to them it’s the ruling elite against everyone else.
Sunni opposition lawmaker Ibrahim Sharif says besides being embarrassed by the street protests, the government is angry over opposition criticism of lucrative privileges given to the ruling family and their allies — and notes that regional suspicions about Iran have given them an opportunity:
“Basically they are redefining now the rules of the game,” Sharif says. “They are saying, ‘You had this high of a ceiling; now we’re bringing the ceiling down on you.’ ”
Supporters of the government argue that this is a matter of security, not political advantage. Faisal Fulad is a pro-government Shura Council member and head of a government-backed human-rights group. When asked if these tensions are a setback for Bahrain’s move toward democracy, he says yes, but only a temporary one:
“I think the king is always thinking about reform. I’m 100 percent sure,” Fulad says.
“We have yanni, feeling that the reform will continue,” he says, not least because the elections are going ahead as planned on Oct. 23. But even so, for Mansour al Jamri, editor of the Wasat newspaper and an early supporter of reform, the ferocity of this crackdown that began in mid-August has the feel of something more final.
“A new era had already begun. Now, could we restore what we had before? … This is a big question,” he says. “We should be rational enough that we can talk it through. But if those who are taking decisions now are not prepared to listen then we might be heading into a very bleak situation.”