Bahrain election results pre-decided

Islam Times reports from Presstv: The Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) says the Sunni-dominated government will manipulate the forthcoming elections through electoral rules and systems set by the Executive Authority which enables the government to control the formation of the High Commission for Elections and sketching out the electoral districts on the basis of sectarian and political loyalties.

The High Commission for Elections has reportedly distributed electoral districts in a sectarian manner. While the population of Bahrain is predominantly Shia, the commission has decided to allow one candidate to run for every 12,000 people in Shia-dominated areas, while in the Sunni-dominated areas every 4,000 people will have one candidate.

The group has also described the government's decision to grant the immediate right to vote to tens of thousands of people, who have been granted citizenship based on their political and sectarian belongings and loyalties, as another effort by the government to manipulate the elections.

BCHR says it has based its claims on a copy of a secret document the organization recently obtained, which spoke in detail about the government's plan to manipulate the electoral process to make sure that their preferred candidates win.

The prominent rights group has also accused the government of disrupting the electoral process by banning opposition candidates and political parties running for elections from broadcasting their election campaigns and ads through the radio and television and instead broadcasting programs, which directly or indirectly, influence the voters to vote for pro-ruling family candidates.

Manama has prevented international and regional organizations from monitoring the media coverage of the upcoming elections, saying monitoring media in Bahrain is a domestic issue.

Bahraini authorities have also dissolved the Bahraini Association for Human Rights, the only independent Bahraini human rights organization authorized to monitor elections.

Since mid-August, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, Bahrain has arrested hundreds of Shia activists, accusing them of having links to terrorists and conspiring to overthrow the Bahraini government.

According to human rights groups, the Shia detainees were ill-treated and tortured during interrogations and were forced to make false statements.

Many opposition parties have decided to boycott the elections due to be held on 23 October.