MANAMA, Bahrain: Bahrain's Shia opposition that boycotted the political process for four years have now decided to take part in the next elections in a bid to achieve sufficient political rights for the community which is in majority in the tiny kingdom.

The boycott by four Shiite movements in 2002 effectively ended on May 1, when the largest of them, Al-Wefaq (the Islamic National Accord Association, or INAA, headed by Sheikh Ali Salman said it would participate in legislative elections later this year.

The boycott was in protest against what the opposition considered to be a "constitutional coup" by King Hamad. He established a bicameral parliament in which legislative power is shared by an assembly elected by universal suffrage and a consultative council appointed by the monarch to act as a safeguard.