Bahrain's main Shia opposition won 16 of parliament's 40 seats but the group said on Sunday it doubted the strong showing would yield much political power in the Sunni-led kingdom.
According to results announced by the justice minister, the Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society secured 16 of the 17 seats it sought and the remaining seat would be decided in a runoff on December 2. The group won 18 municipal seats in Saturday's polls.
The results could give majority Shi'ites a bigger role in the political life of the pro-Western Gulf Arab state.
"Our participation is limited," the head of Wefaq, Sheikh Ali Salman told Reuters. "It is a positive step but let's put this participation in perspective. There are 40 people appointed by the king with the same legislative powers."
Wefaq and other opposition groups boycotted the 2002 vote to protest at constitutional changes granting a state-appointed council equal legislative powers to the elected assembly.
Wefaq had warned the authorities that any attempt to rig Saturday's elections would be vigorously opposed.
The polls took place against a backdrop of Sunni-Shia tension in nearby Iraq and were the first to be contested by Wefaq in the island state of 650,000. An official elections Web site put voter turnout at 72 percent.
Many Sunnis welcomed Shia participation in the polls and Bahrainis do not want a repeat of political unrest that gripped the country in the 1980s and 1990s.
Some Wefaq officials had alleged some voting irregularities but election officials denied that.
Bahrain, headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, is ruled by the Sunni al-Khalifa family. Since coming to power in 1999, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa has introduced some reforms, including pardoning political prisoners and exiles. Shia demands for more power and an end to discrimination in jobs and services have led in the past to unrest and arrests.
They have also complained of what they say is a state move to award citizenship to thousands of Sunnis from other countries to weaken Shi'ite influence. The government says it has naturalised relatively few foreigners, and Shi'ites were well represented among them.
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