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Controversy wracked Bahrain’s elections yesterday as the country’s opposition mocked government boasts of a more than 50 per cent turnout.
Despite an opposition boycott on elections to the 40-member parliament, the official electoral commission put turnout at 51.5 per cent.
However, the Shi’ite opposition dismissed the polls as a “farce,” insisting that only 30 per cent of eligible voters had cast their ballot.
Opposition group Al-Wefaq dismissed the official turnout figure as “amusing, ridiculous and hardly credible.”
Government officials were “trying to fool public opinion and ignore the election boycott by announcing exaggerated figures.”
It instead cited a turnout of “around 30 per cent” and accused the authorities of forcing tens of thousands of state employees to vote or face consequences.
Government officials, for their part, accused oppositionists of provoking incidents to prevent people voting.
Security forces had fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators in Shi’ite villages on Saturday.
