Bahrain’s main opposition Shiite group has announced it will boycott the country’s upcoming November parliamentary elections.
Bahrain has been roiled by more than three years of political unrest and protests led by the tiny Gulf kingdom’s majority Shiite Muslims, demanding greater rights and equal treatment from the Sunni-led monarchy.
In a news conference on Saturday, Al-Wefaq and three other groups in the National Democratic Opposition Parties said they will boycott elections because they say the government has not engaged in genuine reconciliation efforts. Al-Wefaq leaders previously warned on numerous occasions they would boycott.
Al-Wefaq withdrew its 18 lawmakers from the 40-seat lower house during the height of the unrest in 2011. The November 22 elections are the first since protests erupted.
