Sheikh Isa Qassim calls on Bahrainis to boycott elections
WORLD, Nov. 12 (YPA) – Bahrain’s most prominent Shia cleric has reiterated the call to boycott parliamentary elections, saying participation in the elections amounts to betrayal.
“The responsibility of Bahrainis is to boycott the election, and participation in it is a betrayal,” Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim said in a speech to the Bahraini people on the eve of the sham elections of the Manama authorities.
“If you participate with momentum in the elections, you have failed the test, ” Sheikh Isa Qassim said.
He added: “Boycotting the elections means that you are helpless,” stressing that “the responsibility of the Bahraini to boycott the elections and participation is a betrayal.”
Sheikh Isa Qassim noted that the Bahraini parliament acts in favor of the ruler and to the detriment of the Bahraini nation.
This parliament is a tool to exercise oppression, he said, amid growing calls to boycott the elections.
On Thursday, the cleric wrote on a Twitter post that the sham vote is meant to “slaughter democracy” in the Persian Gulf kingdom.
He said that voter participation would not result in the consolidation of democracy in Bahrain as communities are largely excluded from the political process.
E.M