DUBAI: Eighty-three candidates are to contest Bahrain’s Sept. 24 elections that are being boycotted by the Shiite opposition which quit parliament in protest at the suppression of pro-democracy protests.

The partial poll is being held to replace 18 MPs of the main Shiite opposition formation, Al-Wefaq, which controlled the largest bloc in the 40-members lower chamber.

The Al-Wefaq MPs walked out after Bahraini security forces used force against protests led by the Shiite majority demanding democratic reforms in February.

Bahraini authorities later allowed protesters to camp out at Manama’s central Pearl Square until security forces, boosted by a Saudi-led Gulf regiment, drove them out in a deadly crackdown in mid-March.

“There are no significant figures among the candidates,” said a resigned Al-Wefaq MP, Khalil Marzouq, predicting that “people will boycott the polls.”

“The coming parliament will not really represent the people,” he added.

Al-Wefaq also disputes the legitimacy of the upper house of parliament, whose 40 members are appointed rather than elected and which can block initiatives of the lower house.

It has also rejected the outcome of a national dialogue held in July at the initiative of the king to relaunch a process of political reform in Bahrain, which is ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty.