Bahrain: Legislative Elections without Pluralistic Media
Bahrain Press Association: London, thursday 11 august 2022
At a time when Bahrain is preparing to hold its sixth legislative elections at the end of the current year, the performance of traditional media remains one of the main problems in the country.
Bahrain is lacking media institutions where the whole spectrum of society is allowed to participate in public debates and through which individuals and political groups are allowed to present their electoral visions, regardless of the ideas they hold for developing the democratic reality or improving the performance of the executive authority.
It should be restated that a transparent and fair election process is not limited to the secrecy of the ballot and the freedom of individuals to vote. Rather, it necessitates access to information and the opportunity for everyone to express their opinions, present their electoral programs and declare their political positions whatever they are.
The Bahrain Press Association (BPA) believes that a pluralistic media institution that accommodates all directions can play a prominent role in pushing popular participation forward and contributing to consolidating the democratic process in the country.
In the absence of a modern press and media law and the government’s control of all media outlets, there is no sign of potential development in the reality of the media in Bahrain.
| Media Outlets | Ownership |
| Radio and Television | The government |
| Akhbar Al-Khaleej Newspaper | Close to his highness the former Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa |
| Al-Ayyam Newspaper | Nabil al-Hamar, the King’s Advisor for Media Affairs |
| Al-Watan Newspaper | The Royal Court |
| Al-Bilad Newspaper | Former Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (currently serving as an advisor to the Prime Minister) |
Radio and Television
Although the legislative authority has discussed various bills to pass a law for audiovisual media, none of those discussions yielded an actual law. As a result, the Radio and Television Authority (RTA) remains the sole owner of radio and television broadcasting rights in Bahrain.
The RTA controls media content. As a result, its programs, in general, and those about the elections in particular, do not reflect the reality of public debate in the country.
RTA’s editors prepare television and radio reports on the elections, focusing mostly on encouraging the widest participation in the voting process and propagating what it describes as the achievements made by the legislative councils and the executive authority.
Moreover, it broadcasts talk shows about the elections that host pro-government journalists and commentators without giving the same window to those with opposing opinions to express their views on the electoral process or the political reality.
The Bahrain Press Association (BPA) stresses that radio and television are public institutions that should represent all sects. Therefore, the BPA calls for an end to this reality by allowing all groups and sects in the country to appear on television and participate in radio programs.
Local Press
With the closure of Al-Wasat opposition newspaper (4 June 2017), the press in the country has become a monopoly of the government and its loyalists. Thus, the chances of representing any opposing or critical opinion of the electoral process are non-existent.
Local newspapers usually allocate ample space for publishing the official statements of the Supreme Committee for Supervision of the Soundness of Elections and the reports prepared by the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) on the legislative and municipal elections.
Local newspapers also prepare maps of the candidates in all electoral districts. They usually publish press releases for the candidates, sometimes for money.
Local newspapers do not publish the programs of political societies, even pro-government ones. However, they often allocate spaces for independent candidates.
It is true that newspapers host debates and discussions on elections, but anti-government figures are not invited to those tables to express their political views.
As for freedom of the press, the window is open for journalists to criticize the performance of the legislative authority only on service-related issues such as housing, education and health.
Meanwhile, there is a wide margin to criticize the candidates and their electoral programs and encourage voters to participate in the elections.
At a time when the Bahrain Press Association (BPA) renews its call to cancel the decision to freeze the work of Al-Wasat newspaper, it calls on local newspapers to give political societies the space to present their electoral programs or their views on the electoral process.
The dialectic of participation and boycott
The dialectic of boycotting and participating in the parliamentary elections in Bahrain is one of the main controversies that occupy the Bahraini street. Nonetheless, it finds no space in the media except in voices attacking the election boycotters.
The country’s main opposition groups boycotted the first legislative elections in 2002 before returning to participate in the second legislative elections in 2006 and the third in 2010.
After their withdrawal from the Parliament in 2011 in protest of the security forces’ violent response to protests that demanded democracy, opposition groups did not return to participate in all subsequent elections. Additionally, the government enacted a law preventing members of political societies from exercising their political rights.
The official television does not give the opponents even a slight margin to express the reasons driving them to boycott the elections or even criticize the law known as the Political Isolation Law.
On the contrary, local television and newspapers devote a large space to those in favor of participation in the elections.
It went too far to allow the publication of violent opinions against the boycotters, amounting to treason accusations and inciting punitive measures against them.
In conjunction with the 2018 public polling process, local newspapers published statements by former Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Bahrain, Ahmed al-Mulla, in which he endorsed what he described as the “government’s directions to hold accountable citizens who do not participate in the elections and to suspend their housing requests.”
With the restrictions imposed on opponents, many of them resort to expressing their opinions through social media. Yet, the security authorities monitor the content on these platforms and take legal measures against anyone who calls for boycotting the elections.
A Bahraini court sentenced (January 2019) former opposition MP Ali al-Ashiri to one month in prison for his Tweet in which he said: “Some are still asking, will you vote in the elections? It is as if they are not living or following the aggravated political situation in Bahrain. I am a Bahraini citizen deprived of my political and civil rights. Therefore, my family and I will boycott the parliamentary and municipal elections. [And I say] No to the Political Isolation Law.”
While stressing that the Bahrain Press Association (BPA) does not adopt any stance toward the legislative elections in Bahrain, it expresses its hope that the Bahraini media outlets embrace all political views. It also hopes that the Cybercrime Directorate stops persecuting civil society activists who resort to social media platforms to express their views.