DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain voted Saturday in parliamentary and local elections just hours after hackers attacked the island kingdom’s government in the midst of a decade-long crackdown on dissent.
The Ministry of Interior did not identify the selected online pages, however, the Bahraini state news company, nor the Bahraini parliament online page, may not be contactable online. The news company’s online page was later restored.
“Websites are being targeted to obstruct elections and circulate negative messages in desperate attempts that will not affect the determination of citizens who will go to polling stations,” the Interior Ministry said.
Screenshots taken by netizens showed a photo after the attack that claimed it was done through an unknown account in the past called Al-Toufan, or “The Flood” in Arabic. Social media accounts related to Al-Tufan said the organization targeted the parliament’s online page. “because of the persecution carried out through the Bahraini government and in application of the popular will to boycott the mock elections. “
The account claimed Saturday afternoon that it had gotten rid of some other government website, which is not available from abroad.
In a statement to The Associated Press, Bahrain said it had been subjected to a “state-backed cyber attack aimed at derailing the electoral process. “He did not call the state that said it carried out the attack.
“All systems are operational and the voting procedure has been affected,” he added.
Bahrain’s state television broadcast footage of others voting, with the state-run news company describing the election as going “smoothly” at 55 polling stations across the country.
The attack occurred hours before Bahrain’s parliamentary and municipal elections. Voters are all 40 members of Bahrain’s lower house of parliament, the Council of Representatives. The upper house of parliament, the Consultative Council, is appointed by royal decree by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Bahrain has voted in parliamentary and local elections every four years since 2002 after the island became a kingdom.
However, Bahrain is in the midst of a decade of crackdown on dissent after the 2011 Arab Spring protests, in which the island’s Shiite majority and others are calling for more political freedom.
Since Bahrain cracked down on protests with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it has jailed Shiite activists, expelled others, stripped many of their nationalities and shut down its main independent newspaper.
Since then, an outlawed Shiite opposition organization and others have called on the electorate to boycott the elections. In recent days there have been protests against the elections, which have added to the scale of Pope Francis on the island.
“Bahrain was once seen as a promising style of political reform and democratic transition, but it has one of the most repressive states in the Middle East,” the Washington-based Freedom House said.