Bahrain Mirror: Opposition leader Ibrahim Sharif responded to those claiming the Bahraini people's non readiness for democracy, and to those who accuse the opposition of being undemocratic, putting them in the same category of the authorities.

In a series of tweets he wrote today on his Twitter account, Sharif said, "The problem of linking the opposition's so-called undemocracy to that of the authorities is a contribution to mixing the papers. This is sometimes issued in good faith even by dissidents who have contributed to the national movement, driven by a sincere desire to develop the performance of the opposition and alert the society to the contradiction of its practice with the democracy demands."

"But this linking is often used to say that Bahrainis are not ready to exercise democracy. This is almost what Abdelnabi Al-Shula said a few days ago in an article full of claims about the assassination of the civilian martyr when he justified the dissolution of parliament for the reason of disagreement between extremist parliamentary blocs that reached [authority] by the (ignorant) people." 

He wondered "whether anyone can give us one example of a full-package democracy of people and opposition even after 100 or 200 years of democratic practice?"

"Look at the American people, two centuries after they adopted the principles of freedom and democracy in the Declaration of Independence, they elect presidents who wage bloody and unjust wars, and another president who incites his supporters to storm the Congress building to prevent his rival from taking office, and at the time they elect progressive strugglers and human rights defenders such as Bernie Sanders."

He went on to say "How elected governments in Britain, France and the West occupied the whole world, subjugated their people and seized their wealth, while their parties were assuming power in democratic elections."

Ibrahim Sharid added "How these democratic States have deprived women of election for a century or more. Even when America liberated slaves in 1965 in constitutional amendment No. 13, Blacks in southern states have been prevented for a century from exercising the right to run and be elected due to the government circumventing of that right. Should the peoples of Europe and America wait for the day when the authority, or intellectuals who fear that society will overrun their freedoms, to issue them a testimony of good conduct and democratic behavior? Criticism of the opposition is legitimate and necessary, but mixing papers is another thing."

Arabic Version