By MOHAMMED AL A’ALI
Published: 15 November 2006
THIRTY-FIVE parliamentary and municipal elections candidates yesterday signed a petition, demanding fairer elections.
The petition, signed at the Bahrain Medical Society, Juffair, is expected to include up to 200 signatures by tonight when it is circulated among other candidates.
It will be sent to His Majesty King Hamad tomorrow, demanding that the 10 current general polling stations at various parts of the country be closed.
They say that only the main polling centres in each governorate should be open because more centres would make it difficult to monitor the elections.
By MOHAMMED AL A’ALI
Published: 15 November 2006
THIRTY-FIVE parliamentary and municipal elections candidates yesterday signed a petition, demanding fairer elections.
The petition, signed at the Bahrain Medical Society, Juffair, is expected to include up to 200 signatures by tonight when it is circulated among other candidates.
It will be sent to His Majesty King Hamad tomorrow, demanding that the 10 current general polling stations at various parts of the country be closed.
They say that only the main polling centres in each governorate should be open because more centres would make it difficult to monitor the elections.
The group also called for the presence of more of their representatives at polling stations.
They also sought to unify parliamentary and municipal elections timings by increasing the number of hours for the latter.
Polling for municipal councils is from 8am to 6pm, while it is up to 8pm for parliamentary.
The societies that have backed the petition include the National Democratic Action Society (NDAS), Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, National Democratic Grouping Society, Al Menbar Tribunal Democratic Progressive Society and the National Brotherhood Society in addition to a number of independent candidates.
NDAS secretary-general Ibrahim Sharif Al Sayed said that political societies and candidates will insist that their request is implemented before the elections.
“We are trying ensure better elections, without anything harming the process,” he said.
“The 10 polling centres are very hard to monitor and our representatives are not allowed there by law.”
Mr Al Sayed, who is the Capital Governorate’s constituency six candidate (Umm Al Hassam and Mahooz), said candidates needed further assurances that election results cannot be tampered with.
“The elections only allows one representative for each candidate at the main polling station and this means that they can’t have any in the 10 other places,” he said.
“We want their number to be increased to ensure better monitoring at the main polling stations.
“There is no modus operandi for representatives and this will create a lot of chaos regarding their precise role, what they are allowed to do, what information they can have access to and where to sit or stand.
“This is all unclear and should be specified and regulated.”
Mr Al Sayed said that unifying municipal councils and parliamentary elections timing would also be more convenient.
“Why two different timings? We believe they should be unified to ensure people don’t get confused,” he said.
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