Bahrainis vote in disputed poll

Polls opened in Bahrain at 8 a.m. local time (0500 UTC) on Saturday, despite a push by the Shiite opposition for the vote to be boycotted.

The Shiites, who make up a majority in the Gulf nation, led a failed month-long uprising against the Sunni monarchy in 2011, calling for greater democratization and civil rights.

In the leadup to Saturday's vote, the main al-Wefaq opposition group labeled the electoral process a "farce" and urged party supporters to stay away from polling stations.

The party's Secretary-General Ali Salman said told news agency AFP the call for a boycott (pictured) stemmed from "the people's demand for democratic reforms."

He added that the parliament was subject to the king's wishes, and that failure by the monarchy to loosen its grip on power could spark a surge in violence.

2011 uprising crushed

The 2011 popular uprising against the king was swiftly crushed by security forces. Dozens of people were killed and thousands of demonstrators arrested, many of whom remain in prison.

The monarchy's justice minister told German news agency DPA that the election would be fair, and that the opposition's reasons for boycotting were "illogical."

"I don't know why they describe elections as being a tool to falsify voters' wishes and will...I expect the turnout will be big," Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa said.

According to news agency AFP, almost 350,000 people are eligible to vote in Saturday's poll. They are tasked with electing 40 deputies to the lower house of parliament from a list of 266 mostly-Sunni candidates. The monarch is responsible for selecting members of the upper house, known as the Shura Council.

Municipal elections are also taking place on Saturday.

The Gulf island state has a population of about 1.3 million people. Bahrain is a key ally of Saudi Arabia, also a Sunni monarchy, hosts US military bases and is part of the US-led campaign against "Islamic State" in Iraq and Syria.

nm/jm, ipj (AFP, dpa)