Bahrain 1st-Hand: Friday's "For Democracy" Opposition Rally

The opposition's montage of the Friday rally "For Democracy"

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An EA correspondent reports from Bahrain on Friday's "For Democracy" rally organised by five opposition groups:

Tens of thousands of people participated in the rally organised yesterday by the opposition societies, demanding transformation to a democratic system in which the people are the source of authority.

Bahraini flags, along with flags from the "Arab Spring" countries were waving high during the march that began at A'ali roundabout and reaching Salmabad roundabout before returning to its starting point.

At the end of the rally, a joint statement by the opposition societies declared, "We emphasise that stepping back or compromising has been removed from the people's dictionary. Transformation to a democracy has become inevitable, despite the attempts to delay it and making it more complicated."

The groups continued, "Ten months have passed since the peaceful movement started in Bahrain, a movement that aims to activate the Constitution's phrase that 'the people are the source of authority'.... The Bahraini people have given tens of martyrs, thousands of wounded and prisoners, as well as thousands laid off from work and tens of thousands of victims....We announce to the public and to the world that the only safe exit for the situation is the transformation to democracy. This is the only path to save Bahrain." 

They declared, "Attempts at unilateral solutions or artificial promises, with misinformation or propaganda, will have the lowest level of impact and will be useless in stopping the people from achieving their demands to transform to democracy....Thank you for this massive participation to express your opinion freely, peacefully, and in a civilised manner that keeps on surprising the world."