‘Bahrainis now think they have to oust regime’

Bahrainis have held fresh protest rallies to condemn Al Khalifa regime’s harsh crackdown on the opposition and call for reforms in the Persian Gulf state. The protesters also urged the regime to specify the whereabouts of an activist, Seyed Alawi Seyed Hussein, who disappeared in the village of Diraz on October 24. Police informed the activist’s family of his detention but later denied having any information about him.

Author and Middle East affairs expert Saeb Shaath said on Saturday that the Bahrainis now think they have to remove the Al Khalifa regime to pave the way for establishing a good governance.

The Bahraini people want “equal rights and equal opportunities for all” and to achieve these goals they have realized that “they have to abolish the current political order” and create a new political establishment, he added.

Since the beginning of the protests, the commentator said, many Bahrainis have come to the streets to call for reforms and an end to corruption but the regime has resorted to heavy-handed tactics to suppress peaceful demonstrators.

The Manama regime has continued crackdown to stop the protests, but the demonstrations have spread from main cities to towns and villages across the country, he noted.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates stationed troops to Bahrain in 2011 to shore up the Al Khalifa regime and crush demonstrations.

According to the analyst, many journalists are being penalized and victimized because of their defending of the people.”

“The regime provides foreigners with free citizenship as long as they support” the Al Khalifa dynasty, but it strips opposition leaders like Sheikh Issa Qassim from their citizenship.

“This is the kind of regime that the Western powers adore and cherish and keep in power,” he complained.

Thousands of protesters have held numerous demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country on February 14, 2011.