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Opposition Falls Short of Majority in Bahrain Election

   VOA News 24 October 2010
   A  Bahraini couple cast ballots at a general polling station set up on
   the  Bahrain  side of a bridge connecting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, 23
   Oct 2010

Photo: AP

   A  Bahraini couple cast ballots at a general polling station set up on
   the  Bahrain  side of a bridge connecting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, 23
   Oct 2010

   Bahrain's  main  Shi'ite  Muslim  political  bloc  has won 18 seats in
   Saturday's   election,   falling  short  a  majority  in  the  40-seat
   parliament.

   Bahrain  election  officials  announced the results Sunday of what was
   only the third election under the country's 8-year-old constitution.

   Pro-government  candidates  won 13 seats, while candidates for another
   nine  seats  failed to get the required 50 percent of the vote and now
   face runoff elections at the end of the month.

   The  Shi'ite-led  opposition, which made slight gains in the election,
   says  hundreds  of  its  supporters  were  turned  away from the polls
   Saturday.

   Justice  Minister  Sheik Khaled bin Ali Al Khalifa has said the voting
   was fair with minimal irregularities.

   Election  officials  say  67  percent  of Bahrainis turned out for the
   vote, down slightly from 72 percent four years ago.

   Saturday's vote was preceded by months of growing tensions between the
   Sunni Muslim-led government and the country's Shi'ite majority.

   At  least  250  Shi'ite  activists  have been detained in the last two
   months,  prompting fears that the monarchy is beginning to abandon its
   attempts at democracy.

   More  than 20 Shi'ites accused of plotting to overthrow the government
   are scheduled to go on trial next week.

   Shi'ites  make  up  more than 70 percent of Bahrain's population. Some
   representatives of the group accused Sunni leaders of issuing Bahraini
   passports   to   foreign   Sunnis  who  did  not  meet  naturalization
   requirements  in  order to weaken the Shi'ite majority. The government
   denied the charge.

   Shi'ites  also say they are denied equal housing, health and education
   benefits and that most government institutions refuse to hire them.

   A government election official, Abdullah al-Buainain, said 300 or more
   observers monitored the elections to make sure they are fair.

   The  United States has a key interest in the vote. Pro-Western Bahrain
   hosts  the  U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which patrols the Persian Gulf at a
   time  when  Western  concerns about Iran's nuclear development program
   have risen sharply.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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