Manama: Kuwait's embassy in Manama has denied allegations that a Kuwait tribe will take part in November 25 parliamentary elections in Bahrain.
"The Kuwaiti citizenship law does not permit Kuwaitis to be involved in any non-Kuwaiti elections. As the law does not allow dual nationality, no Kuwaiti can participate in Bahrain's elections," an embassy spokesman said on Saturday.
The embassy was reacting to claims by a parliamentary hopeful that a tribe from Kuwait would be voting for his opponent in the forthcoming elections.
"I have information that Khalifa Al Dhahrani will be getting the highest number of votes overseas and that a Kuwaiti tribe will be casting ballots for him," Shaikh Salman Bin Saqr Al Khalifa was quoted in a local newspaper.
'Distortion'
However, Shaikh Salman, the only member of the royal family to run in a general election, yesterday denied making the claim about the tribe, saying that the newspaper had distorted his words.
"What I said was that many Kuwaitis who also have the Bahraini nationality will be voting for Al Dhahrani. I never meant or referred to a specific tribe or family, and I apologise for any inconvenience the claims could have caused to the ambassador," he said in a statement to the press.
It is not the first time that Shaikh Salman has made a statement that sent ripples through an election-tense Bahrain.
