Bahraini Elections: The Latest

Bahraini Parliament candidate Fawzia Zainal is claiming that Islamist groups are distributing videos decrying women's participation in the elections:

"'Members of the society are distributing video tapes in which Kuwaiti religious leaders oppose the participation of women in elections,' said Fawzia whose posters were defaced and tent vandalised.

"'I am also aware that members of the society are planning a series of secret meetings with voters to dissuade them from electing me,' she said.

"Fawzia is one of eight women running in the elections for the 40-member Chamber of Deputies among hopes that at least one more female candidate will be elected after Latifa became the first woman to reach the parliament in a public election."

Are these Kuwaiti videos aimed at Sunnis, or do the religious leaders have influence across the sectarian divide?

Meanwhile, Mahmood has much more on how things are going:

"Look at what our esteemed BD500-a-month-for-sale ex-MP Dr. Salah Ali and what he’s doing in the Central District’s constituency 4: allegedly sending sectarian, disloyal, seditious text messages to the people of that constituency against his opposition, who are known for their loyalty to the people of Bahrain and have rendered countless services to them. Telling them that they are non-believers, and that they will shut down mosques immediately they get into parliament, and the various other underhanded methods of trying to re-win the seat that he would never have dreamt of occupying had the boycotting societies decided to enter the game in 2002.

"He’s so desperate now that I am told that he personally is going out in the neighbourhoods knocking on door after door begging for votes, and allegedly writing cheques to buy votes, this is the 'scandal' that we have woken up to this morning, with one Ahmed Al-Mutairi (whose personality is also surrounded by infamy, it is alleged) receiving a BD100 cheque in lieu of him changing his address into Dr. Salah Ali’s constituency and promising to vote for him… from Dr. Salah Ali, ALLEGEDLY, of course. Well, it seems that even the good doc didn’t learn from Bandargate and just use cash, the stupid twat. I wonder how many of these cheques the twerp wrote so far, if he is - most probably - being financed to try to get him into parliament again by the likes of, ehm, Voldermort, then he’s got to keep receipts!"