By Xinhua,
Dhaka : Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) who lost Monday’s parliament elections said on Thursday they will accept the new government which comes through the elections although they don’t accept the poll results.
The BNP Secretary General Khondaker Delwar Hossain told reporters here that “we want to give a chance to Awami League. We also want to see how they take cooperation from the opposition parties.”
“BNP will closely observe the activities of the Awami League,” he said.
BNP, led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, got only 29 seats in the country’s 9th parliamentary elections held on Monday while the other major party led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina won 230 out of all 300 parliament seats.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia Tuesday midnight told reporters the election results are not acceptable to her party terming it as “blueprint.”
“This election has not reflected the will of the people,” she said, claiming that they have evidence about how rigging took place.
However, BNP’s key ally Jamaat-e-Islami who won 2 seats Wednesday said in a press release that an elected government is better than an unelected one to govern the country and hoped that Sheikh Hasina would not renege from her election pledges.
“Jamaat thinks that the country should be ruled by an elected government though questions have been raised over the acceptability of the just-held national election,” said the party release.
Meanwhile, foreign election observers including observers of European Union and Commonwealth Wednesday said they did not find any instance of “election manipulation” in the polls.
They also urged all political parties to accept the election results for the sake of strengthening democracy in Bangladesh.
On the other hand, Awami League president Sheikh Hasina has sought cooperation from BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and her party for running the country and making the parliament effective.
“She has experience as the prime minister and definitely we will seek her cooperation,” Hasina said at a press conference hereon Wednesday.
Hasina also said later on Wednesday that she will form government in the first week of January.
BNP and Awami League, the country’s two major parties, were in power alternatively from 1991 to 2006.