ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS 8: CANDIDATES WITHDRAW,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANAMA 001950 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM BA POL SUBJECT: ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS 8: CANDIDATES WITHDRAW, PUNISHMENT FOR THOSE MAKING "BASELESS STATEMENTS" Classified By: Ambassador William T. Monroe for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) . ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Fourteen parliamentary candidates withdrew from their respective races, including one incumbent MP, by the November 14 deadline, leaving 207 candidates competing for the 40 seats in the Council of Representatives (COR). The official election spokesperson announcedNovember 19 that the High Commission for Electios would press charges against anyone publicly diparaging the fairness of the election without prsenting evidence of their claims. (Note: This nnouncement relates to unsubstantiated claims that here are an alleged 8,000 "floating" voters withut fixed addresses that could be deployed to cloe districts to influence the outcomes. End note) The election spokesperson announced November 0 that there are nine civil society organizationsthat will be allowed to officially monitor the eletions. End summary. ¶2. (C) CANDIDATE WITHDRAALS: Elections Director Wael Buallay announced ovember 16 that 14 candidates running in the pariamentary elections had withdrawn from their respective races by the deadline November 14. These included one parliamentary incumbent, independent Jasim Al Mowali, who had been a member of the Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, bringing the number of incumbents seeking reelection to 28. A total of 207 candidates remain competing for the COR's 40 seats. (Note: There had been early speculation that a larger number of withdrawals would occur, leaving several candidates running unopposed. However, there is still only one district in which there is a single candidate, that of independent female candidate Latifa Al Qa'oud. End note.) A notable withdrawal from the ranks of the municipal candidates is the chairman of the Southern Governorate, Khalid Al Buainain, who was seeking reelection. Of the five municipal council chairmen, Al Buainain had been the only incumbent running. ¶3. (C) GOB THREATS OF PUNISHMENT: Official election spokesperson Ahdeya Ahmed announced November 19 that the High Commission for Elections would refer any person who publicly questioned the transparency and fairness of the election without presenting evidence to the Public Prosecutor's Office to face charges. She challenged any candidate to present evidence of what has been referred to as the "floating voters," alleged voters who do not have a permanent address and will vote in districts as instructed by the government. (Note: This is a reference to Central Governorate candidate Salman Bin Saqer Al Khalifa, a member of the royal family, who has claimed that there is a group of 8,000 individuals whose votes may be used to swing close races in the government's favor. End note.) Al Khalifa reacted November 20 to Ahmed's announcement, saying that this type of heavy-handed reaction by the government hearkens back to days of the State Security Law (the 1990's). Arabic daily Al Wasat Editor-in-Chief Mansour Al Jamri wrote in his column November 20 that in the face of legitimate questions about the election process in Bahrain, government threats against citizens are merely attempts at controlling the populace. ¶4. (SBU) OBSERVATION: Spokesperson Ahdeya Ahmed announced November 20 that the High Commission for Elections had approved the participation of nine local civil society groups to officially monitor the elections. Bahrain Transparency Society (BTS) announced November 20 that it had sent four representatives to monitor the November 21 external polling at the four Bahraini embassies (in the UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, and the UK) at which the largest number of voters had registered. ¶5. (SBU) SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST WA'AD: Liberal Wa'ad political society president Ibrahim Sharif, who is one of four Sunni candidates receiving support from leading Shi'a society Al Wifaq, said publicly that approximately 2,000 leaflets had been stuffed through voter mail slots in his district that make derogatory claims about Sharif, including that he supports prostitution. He also said that over the last three weeks phone text messages have been sent to voters that make disparaging statements about Sharif, Munira Fakhro, Abdulrahman Al Naimi and Sami Seyadi, the other Sunni Wa'ad candidates running. Though it was difficult to gauge the reaction among voters, Sharif said there were some indications that the leaflets were angering people and having the effect of galvanizing support for Sharif. ¶6. (C) WOMEN CANDIDATES: In a conversation with Pol/Econ Chief and Poloff November 19, Manama Governorate candidate Dr. Jameela Al Sammak (Shi'a),who has received nominal support from the National Action Charter Society, a liberal political society boasting Sunni and Shi'a members, said that MANAMA 00001950 002 OF 002 she has received pressure from members of leading Shi'a political society Al Wifaq to withdraw from the race. The field in her mostly Shi'a district has 13 candidates total, and her primary competitor is Al Wifaq candidate Khaleel Al Marzooq. Al Wifaq members have visited her campaign tent several times to try to convince her to withdraw, using the argument, "You are going to lose anyway. Why don't you just withdraw?" She reported that she hears statements from other candidates' campaigns that women are not qualified to run and should not be involved in politics. Al Sammak explained that she was even summoned to meet with a local cleric who tried to convince her that it would be better if she withdrew. Al Sammak, who has a doctorate in management and administration from a UK university, is persistent and defies her critics to prove that the other candidates are more qualified than she is. She told Emboffs that she had reported the matter to BTS. ¶7. (SBU) Arabic daily Al Ayam columnist Esmat Al Mosawi November 19 blasted guest Egyptian cleric Wajdi Ghuneem, who spoke recently at a Muharraq Islamist candidate's campaign tent, for his calls to eliminate the participation of women in elections and the political process. She also pointed out that he, and those who invited him, committed election violations by endorsing particular candidates by name. She asks, "How can the Ministry of Islamic Affairs invite this type of person (to speak in Bahrain) and interfere in our politics and elections?" She concludes saying that having such guests in Bahrain runs counter to the government's public actions to encourage the empowerment of women. On November 20, Al Ayam printed a political cartoon depicting a man making an animated speech at a podium while holding up a picture of a female candidate with a large "X" over her face. Leaning against the podium next to the man is a caveman's club. ¶8. (SBU) SURVEY RESULTS: The Bahraini official election web site (www.vote4bahrain.com) posted results of a survey November 18 of 1,167 individuals who were asked if they planned to participate in the elections. Nearly 60 percent responded that they will participate, just under 32 percent said they will not vote, while the remaining were undecided. (Note: The 32 percent who said they would not vote include a mix of boycotters, the apathetic, and those who will not be able to get to a polling center. The survey results did not indicate the relative sizes of these three groups. End note.) ¶9. (SBU) The survey results also indicated that the public was against the merging of the parliamentary and municipal elections, with just over 60 percent of respondents indicating that they preferred the two elections be held separately. When asked what qualities were most important in a candidate, 78 percent responded that honesty was the most important, and only 15 percent said that relevant experience was important. In a second survey conducted by English daily Bahrain Tribune and published November 19, nearly half of respondents said that they were not satisfied with the performance of Parliament during the last four years. (Note: No information was available about the sample size or methodology in the Bahrain Tribune survey, so results may be quite unreliable. However, the reported results may give very broad indications about public sentiment. End note.) Topping a list of five issues respondents were asked to rank as those of most concern to Bahrainis was unemployment, followed by housing and naturalization. Respondents ranked the issues of sectarian discrimination and corruption low on the list of five. ********************************************* ******** Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ ********************************************* ******** MONROE