Tomorrow, Bahrain holds Parliamentary elections. The main Shi‘ite opposition group, Al-Wefaq, is urging participation despite pressures against the Shi‘ite opposition. (Human Rights Watch here; Amnesty here; BBC here; The Economist here; Carnegie here. And an editorial (if just a tad patronizing in tone) in Bahrain's English Gulf Daily News here.
It's not looking like the most free-and-fair poll ever, but Bahrain is still fairly new at this, and whether there will be a real result remains to be seen. It is, however, important, for Bahrain of course, for Sunni-Shi‘ite relations in the Gulf, and for the Gulf's nascent Parliaments, few as they still are, generally.
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