Bahraini justice minister welcomes national observation of elections

Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments also the Election-Safety Higher Supervisory Committee's Chairman, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, said that the election process is a matter of national sovereignty conducted under the supervision of the State's Judiciary.
Nobody should interfere in this process without recourse to the Judiciary as each of its stages is known and publicized for the people, the Minister added. He stressed that Bahrain is an open country and anybody can come to Bahrain.
The Minister in an interview with Al-Ayam newspaper published today refused any foreign organisation's issuing to us an "exemption indulgence" i.e. a "clean bill of health" for Bahrain's elections. He said that this practice has existed since 2002 as our elections are free and honest in which all citizens participate under observation of Bahraini judiciary and national observation organisations.
He added that we have nationwide-accumulated quantities of national experience which make us proud; and, our role as the Election-Safety Higher Supervisory Committee and we are involved in the national observation of the elections.
Shaikh Khalid said that Bahrain has not received any application requesting to observe the elections from any foreign organisation directly, however, there are many local applications and the necessary arrangements are underway in order for the local applicants to track the entire process of balloting and vote sorting.
And regarding threats practiced by opposition societies against some candidates, the Minister of Justice said that this issue is governed by laws, pointing out that any threat to a candidate should be dealt with according to the provisions of the law and there are other election-related crimes pertaining in this aspect.
The Minister said that opposition societies cannot dismiss any of their members who participate in the elections. The opposition societies cannot not violate the law on the basis of which they have been created. All citizens have the right to join or create a political society, he stressed.
The Minister said that clueless as well as meaningful threats which denote violence would be dealt with according to the law either through the Ministry of Justice, the Office on Political Societies or the Election-Safety Higher Supervisory Committee.