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Manama: Bahrain's opposition candidates will not win more than 25 of the 40 seats up for grabs in the parliamentary elections, Al Wefaq Society leader Shaikh Ali Salman has said.
The leader who is himself a candidate in the Northern Governorate did not explain how he arrived at the figure, but said that the opposition would be working with the government for more reforms.
"If we find the necessary cooperation, we will be highly positive. But if we find that the government or one of its ministers is stalling people's interests, then we will hold them responsible," Salman told thousands of supporters and sympathisers.
Meanwhile, National Democratic Action Society Secretary-General Ebrahim Shareef said that he reported the interior and defence ministries to the public prosecution for taking the passports and identity cards of security and military personnel to influence their voting choices.
"It may be a ploy by both ministries to give the impression to the staff that they are monitoring their votes and compel them to vote for pro-government candidates," Shareef said.
But an interior ministry official denied the claims, saying that they were baseless.
Several societies have called for not allowing security and military staff to vote, arguing that they would cast their ballots according to the government wishes.
However, the government has refuted the charges, saying that interior and defence personnel would exercise their rights independently.
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