BAHRAIN : A Bahraini Sunni woman casts her vote at a polling station in the city of Rifaa, south of the capital Manama Saturday. — AFP MANAMA, Nov 22 (AFP): Bahrain went to the polls Saturday for its first legislative elections since a failed pro-democracy uprising in 2011, with the opposition boycotting the vote in the tiny Gulf monarchy.
The key US ally remains divided nearly four years after security forces in the Sunni Muslim-ruled kingdom crushed Arab Spring-inspired protests led by majority Shiites.
Al-Wefaq, the main opposition group, warned on the eve of the vote that failure by the kingdom's rulers to ease their "monopoly" on power could trigger a surge in violence.
Clashes between young demonstrators and security forces erupted in Shiite villages outside the capital Manama ahead of the polls, according to witnesses.
Plumes of smoke were seen rising from blazing tyres placed in the streets of several districts.
Bahrain's electorate of almost 350,000 is being called to choose 40 deputies. Most of the 266 candidates are Sunnis in a vote denounced by critics as a "farce".
Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) and are due to close at 8:00 pm. Municipal elections are being held at the same time.
In Rifaa, a Sunni-dominated district south of Manama, dozens of people, mostly men dressed in traditional long white robes, lined up ahead of the start of voting.
"This election will help the development of the country under the leadership of the king," said Naima El-Heddi, a civil servant in her 30s.
Voters were scarcer further north in the Shiite village of Jidhafs, where a witness reported seeing just 100 people casting ballots in the first two hours.
The boycott means turnout will be a key marker of the validity of the vote.
On the eve of elections, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of the Shiite village of Diraz, with police firing tear gas to disperse them.
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