Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06MANAMA1950
2006-11-20 13:25:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Manama
Cable title:  

ELECTION HIGHLIGHTS 8: CANDIDATES WITHDRAW,

Tags:  PGOV KDEM PHUM BA POL 
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VZCZCXRO3886
OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMK #1950/01 3241325
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 201325Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6032
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
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)
.

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the pariamentary elections had withdrawn from their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.


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