Manama, Jan 16 (IANS): The Bahraini government Thursday announced the resumption of its political dialogue with all political powers in the nation, after the process was suspended last week.

A government statement said all parties are starting the dialogue, after Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalif met their representatives Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

It said all sides agreed to raise their level of representation to mark a new phase of the dialogue, which would tackle issues regarding legislative, judicial, and executive authorities, electoral constituencies, and security.

Last week, many parties withdrew from the dialogue because of the opposition's refusal to come back to the process. The opposition started to boycott the dialogue in September in protest against the arrest of its leader on charges of inciting terrorism.

Bahraini parties launched the dialogue in a bid to solve the nation's political crisis, which started in 2011 as part of the Arab turmoil that swept West Asia.