Bahrain's Shiite Muslim opposition boycotted the political process for four years, but have now decided to take part in the next elections in a bid to change the Sunni government from within.
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), 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.
The small Gulf archipelago, with a population of just 650,000, is unique among Gulf Arab monarchies governed by Sunni Muslim dynasties in that it has a native population that is 60 percent Shiite.
Before the process of democratisation began in 2001, at least 38 people were killed in confrontations between security forces and opposition Shiites during the 1990s.
INAA leader Sheikh Ali Salman said the boycott was not a mistake, but that times have now changed.
In an interview with AFP, he said one of the reasons his movement decided to take part in polls was a wish to avoid greater division between Shiites and Sunnis, especially in the light of developments in Iraq.
"This is one of our reasons to share the power, to avoid the feeling that the boycott is only for Shiites. That's one of our reasons for participating in the election," he said.
That decision has cost Al-Wefaq dearly, leading to internal divisions that have seen its most radical faction of young activists desert the grouping.
The other main Shiite movement, the Islamic Action Association, has not yet decided on whether to end the boycott.
Leader Sheikh Mohammed Ali Mafud has said he personally favours taking part in the elections "in order to avoid clashes between the people and the government", but he believes most members of his movement oppose doing so.
In any case, the opposition is under no illusions, knowing that its decision to join a system it considers unjust plays into the hands of those in power.
For Sheikh Mohammed, the four-year term of the next legislature "will be decisive" because "if there is no real change there could be incidents".
That is the riskiest element of the opposition move, according to one foreign analyst.
"Within the Shiites, there is a dynamic between those who say 'Look, we're not doing any good out here, let's work within the system to see what we can do,' and the rejectionists ... If the election goes very well, that will take the wind out of the sails of the more violent ones."
Sheikh Mohammed said "it is up to the government to convince the people that results can be achieved by cross-participation".
Whether they take part or not, the two Shiite groupings have not given up on their demand for constitutional reform to bring an end to the bicameral parliament, which they consider to be the main obstacle to real change within the country.
The objective, according to Sheikh Ali Salman, is to make Bahrain "a constitutional monarchy where the Khalifa dynasty continues to rein", but where power will be held by a single elected chamber.
It would be "like in Morocco or Jordan ... where the power will be vested in parliament. We must do it gradually," he said.
"This is not a state. This is a company -- eleven of twenty-two ministers are from the royal family."
It is all about a common model for the six monarchies in the Gulf, he believes, but "it's a model we must start to change".
For those in power, there is no question of compromise on the bicameral parliament and the current system, which is seen as a guarantee of stability.
"The balance is to keep the identity of Bahrain as an Arab, Islamic, liberal society. In Bahrain, we believe in liberalism," Information Minister Mohammed Abdul Ghaffar said, referring to the tolerant nature of one of the most open societies in the Gulf.
"If you don't have balance, then you have interest groups," he said. "They think in very narrow ways ... You have to control the interest groups."
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