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Activists to be poll monitors

FIFTY-TWO Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society members will monitor voting at polling stations throughout the country on Saturday. The society also sent one of its representatives to Kuwait last night, to monitor voting at the Bahrain Embassy today. Society electoral observation director Abdulhakeem Abdul-karim Al Balushi will be among the observers at the embassy, where polling will be held from 9am to 7pm today. Society electoral observation superintendent Hala Ramzy Fayes thanked Justice Minister Dr Mohammed Al Sitri and the Supreme Election Committee for allowing the society to monitor the elections. "Mr Al Balushi will be at the Bahrain Embassy in Kuwait today, when 135 Bahrainis will cast their votes," she told the GDN. "The presence of monitors from non-governmental organisations will ensure transparency in the process." Ms Fayes said 52 society members would monitor both the parliamentary and municipal elections. "We are proud to announce that our members belong to Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities," she added. A total of 1,191 Bahrainis living in 22 countries have registered to vote. They will go to polls today at Bahrain embassies, consular and diplomatic missions. Only those Bahrainis who registered their names at the embassies between November 1 and 7 will be eligible to vote. The results will be announced only on November 25, along with those of the elections within the Kingdom. The maximum number of voters are in Jordan, Kuwait and the UAE. =========================================     Municipal elections 'are being ignored' By MOHAMMED AL A'ALI (GDN)   FOREIGN journalists came under fire yesterday for showing too little interest in the municipal elections. They are all interested in the parliament elections, but not the municipal polls, says Abbas Mahfoodh. The Central Municipal Councillor, who is fighting to retain his seat in constituency one (Tubli), turned up to meet the Press at the Elections Media Centre, in the Intercontinental Regency Bahrain yesterday. But he says that while candidates were on time - the foreign media was not. They should have been there at 9am, but drifted in 40 minutes to an hour later, wasting candidates' valuable time, said Mr Mahfoodh. Municipal and parliamentary candidates were waiting their turn to be interviewed, but few journalists were interested in the council polls, he said. "The door for interviews closes at 11am, yet many continued interviewing Central Governorate municipal councils and parliamentary candidates until 12.30pm," he said. "Even foreign media personnel who came later were not interested in municipal council candidates, because they never saw them on television or heard about them. "This is because parliament and Shura Council sessions are aired on television, while we don't get any coverage, only from local newspapers. "Those who have approached me, because they read council reports on the Internet, didn't know what to ask me, because they don't know anything on municipal work." He claimed that foreign journalists allowed into Bahrain for the elections had been urged by authorities to keep their report "positive". "When they asked me political questions and I answered them, they told me that they can't write what I told them, because it is against instructions given to them to present Bahrain in the best way possible," said Mr Mahfoodh. Mr Mahfoodh, who is also Al Wefaq National Islamic Society Judiciary Body secretary, said that this gave him no choice but to go fishing for other journalists to speak to. "I don't know who is working for the media and who is not, or for what television or radio channel, newspaper or magazine, because no-one has a badge to recognise them from," he said. "I lost three hours of my time, because the centre didn't organise anything properly for us. "When I went out I saw Southern Governorate candidates sitting waiting, bored, because their turn hadn't come yet. "They started asking me if this would be good publicity. I told them for parliamentary candidates, yes, but for us not." He said the centre was equipped with the best technology, bringing in the best foreign media to cover the elections, but without any proper organisation. "I hope that this will be averted on the Elections Day and a place will be allocated for us to speak to the media, rather than us chasing them," said Mr Mahfoodh.      ======================================= TRANSPORT PLAN RULED OUT  (GDN) ELECTION authorities will not provide transport to get voters to and from polling booths, it was announced yesterday. Transportation has been always provided by the candidates themselves or civil, social or political organisations and establishments, said High Elections Committee executive director Wael Buallay. "It was not provided by the committee in 2002, because people were flocking in buses provided by others," he said.  ========================================== Voting will take just a minute... GDN   IT will take just a minute for individuals to cast their votes at polling stations on Saturday, High Election Committee officials pledged yesterday. Polling will be made easy, whether at 40 main constituency centres or the 10 open polling ones, said training committee deputy head Mahmood Al Mahmood. People would be asked for identification at the check-in booth - a procedure that will not take more than 10 seconds, he said. Mr Al Mahmood was speaking to candidates at a workshop on elections procedures, which was held at the Isa Town Secondary Girls School. "They will then be directed to a closed booth to cast their vote after they are given two ballot papers with the pictures of candidates, one for parliamentary and the other for municipal," said Mr Al Mahmood. "Voters will then drop the sheets in two separate ballot boxes near each other." He said that schools' halls were selected as constituency centres because they have two entrances and two exits. "Men will enter from one side, while women would enter from the other and then both will leave from two separate exits." Mr Al Mahmood said that when voting for municipal elections ends, papers would be sorted and then counted. "They will be then checked by the judge, who is the polling centre committee chairman, before being sent to the main governorate supervision centre to be added to votes from abroad and the 10 open polling centres," he said. The 10 open polling centres, said Mr Al Mahmood, have been divided differently with five lines allocated for each governorate. "The ballot papers are sent from there to the main supervision centre, where the sorting and counting will be carried out before they are added to other votes," he said. Mr Al Mahmood said that candidates' representatives would be present to ensure that ballot boxes are empty before elections begin at the constituencies polling centres. He said non-governmental organisations and political societies representatives would be at the 10 open polling centres to ensure that the ballot boxes are empty.      ============================================ Polling day traffic vow By TARIQ KHONJI - GDN AUTHORITIES will step up police presence at Bahrain's 40 main polling stations to ensure the smooth flow of traffic on election day. They expect a higher turnout this year than in 2002 because both parliamentary and municipal elections are being held on November 25. General Directorate of Traffic operations and traffic control director Lieutenant Shaikh Abdul Rahman bin Sabah Al Khalifa said at least two policemen would be stationed at each polling centre. "There will also be police patrols and the number will depend on how crowded a station is," he said. Shaikh Abdul Rahman said these would be in addition to the traffic policemen on regular duty. "We are not going to divert road policemen from their regular duties because they have important functions as well," he said. "The policemen stationed at the polling stations are mostly those with desk jobs." He was speaking at a Press conference at the directorate's premises in Isa Town yesterday. Shaikh Abdul Rahman said all venues chosen as polling stations have ample parking space, so parking violations will be inexcusable. "Our main concern at the stations will be to ensure traffic flows smoothly," he said. Traffic police, however, won't be going anywhere near the stations as the election rules prohibit them from doing so while on duty, said Shaikh Abdul Rahman. "The policemen will be working in shifts, so they can vote either before or after they finish their duties," he said   24-hour hotline to record poll abuses By TARIQ KHONJI - GDN   Vol XXIX   NO. 237      Sunday      12 November 2006   A NEW 24-hour hotline was launched by the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) yesterday to record illegal campaigning and other abuses of the elections law. Complaints can be submitted by calling 17536222 and they will be investigated by society members. BHRWS regional and international relations director Faisal Fulad said that it would launch two reports based on complaints received through the hotline and other means. "We will check on complaints and if there is proof of any wrongdoing we will include it in one of two comprehensive reports," he said. "One will focus exclusively on women campaigners, including our view of whether they were treated fairly in the elections and whether they were the subject of any kind of abuse or unfair competition. "The other report will be general and will investigate complaints against the candidates, political societies, the government, the religious establishment, the Press, non-governmental organisations and others." The society's investigations will be based on United Nations guidelines on elections monitoring. Mr Fulad said that these two reports would come in useful to candidates who launch cases against competitors or other parties in court, after the elections are over. The hotline is being supervised by BHRWS women, children and minorities director Hala Ramzi Faez. About 40 to 50 members of the society are involved in this project. Mr Fulad said that the society would be launching an initial report on its current findings. These will include the names of some candidates that it thinks have already violated the law. "We will be releasing this report within the next few days," he continued. "Of course we cannot release any claims like this without evidence."        Vol XXIX   NO. 233      Wednesday      8th November 2006 Worrying move GDN- MANAMA: Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) has expressed concerns over a political society's distribution of pamphlets discouraging people from voting for candidates other than their own. BHRWS president Abdul Karim Al Balooshi said there was a row between residents and society representatives when they objected to their claims. ====================================== Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society www.bhrws.org info@bhrws.org