Manama: Liberals are hopeful that they can still win in the second round of the parliamentary elections, Muneera Fakhroo, the only woman to be supported by a political society, has said.
Muneera, running on a National Democratic Action Society Waad ticket, will have a second chance to win in the run-off against an independent candidate on Saturday. In 2006, when she ran for the first time, also on a Waad list, she achieved a similar score.
"My team and I have already started getting ready for the second round, and we are confident that we will win," she told Gulf News a short time after the justice minister formally announced the results of the first round. One more liberal seeking to represent Waad in the lower chamber, Ebrahim Shareef, will also have a run-off on Saturday in Muharraq, Bahrain's second largest city. The third, Sami Al Seyadi, lost. All three were candidates in 2006 when the society reversed an earlier stance to boycott elections.
"Even if I lose this time, I will keep my activism and promote Waad's ideas," Muneera said. "Whether I am inside the parliament or outside, it will be work to help people appreciate our work. I could sense that we are making a difference when I met people during the election campaign, be it at our tent or at lectures," she said.
However, Adel Al Mouawda, the head of the Salafis in Bahrain, is not convinced.
"Bahrainis are deeply committed to their religion and will always favour Islamists, be they Sunnis or Shiites," Al Mouawda told Gulf News. "Bahrainis will always elect Islamists because they feel that they can trust them to represent them," said Al Mouawda, who will be in the lower chamber for a record third time after carrying his constituency without opposition.
The 2006-2010 lower chamber was dominated by Islamists who had 33 of the 40 seats.
