ELECTION billboards of another female candidate have been vandalised, it has emerged.
Parliamentary hopeful Fawzia Zainal said so far seven of her banners have been slashed, adding that she had faced similar problems during the 2006 and 2014 elections. “I am used to it by now,” she said.
She said she did not want to discredit her opponents or name individuals by filing a formal complaint.
“We are a mature democracy and I don’t want to tarnish the image of Bahrain or its citizens.”
She said she had no choice but to spend more money to replace the damaged billboards.
Ms Zainal is contesting for a third time for a parliament seat from Southern Governorate’s constituency five, which covers parts of East Riffa, Hunainiyah Valley and parts of West Riffa.
Ms Zainal, who previously worked for Bahrain Television, is a well-known media personality.
During the 2014 polls, she was among 22 parliament hopefuls who made it to the second round, but lost by 288 votes to incumbent MP Khalifa Al Ghanem.
The GDN reported yesterday a Bahraini woman running for a parliament seat in the Capital Governorate claimed she was being targeted with black magic.
Donya Fakhrawi said eggs had been thrown at vehicles belonging to her family members and random messages in Arabic had been left behind on the windshield of her car.
In addition, around 30 of her campaign banners worth BD1,500 were also vandalised since Saturday.
Meanwhile, photographs circulating online showed election banners of Mohammed Shahab dumped in a bin.
He is contesting for a parliament seat from Northern Governorate’s constituency two (Duraz, Bani Jamra and Al Markh).
A billboard of independent candidate Mohammed Isa was also found slashed.
He is contesting from Muharraq Governorate’s constituency three (Bin Ali and parts of Busaiteen).
The Bahrain Transparency Society that is monitoring the polls condemned the vandalism targeting election hopefuls.
Society president Sharaf Al Mosawi said 32 candidates had signed a code of ethics to contest the elections fairly without discrediting their opponents.
Meanwhile, the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society said it was imperative to defeat the forces that wanted to thwart the democratic political process.
“We urge authorities to enforce security measures and hold the saboteurs accountable in accordance with Bahraini law,” said society secretary general Faisal Fulad in a statement.
&uuid=(email))