The BNP has decided that its candidates, who have been elected in the 11th parliamentary election, will not take oath has lawmakers.
The announcement came on Monday (Dec 30) during its official post-election press conference at the party chief’s Gulshan offices in Dhaka.
“We have rejected the results of the 11th national election and called for fresh polls. Joining the parliament is out of the question,” Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
The Awami League is about to form a government for an unprecedented third straight term after winning the election on Sunday (Dec 30). It won 259 of 299 seats while the Grand Alliance it leads won 288 seats.
The BNP, which had boycotted the last general election in 2014 saying it would not be fair, won just five seats while its ally Gano Forum won two seats.
Speaking to Bangla Tribune after the media call, BNP National Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy said, “Joining the parliament or taking oath as MPs are not on the cards.”
His colleague in the party policymaking forum Amir Khoshru Mahmud Chowdhury echoed.
“We will launch programmes demanding re-election very soon. There’s no reason for the candidates who won the polls to take the oath,” he told Bangla Tribune.
The BNP’s move will lead to by-elections in the five constituencies.
The Gano Forum led by Dr Kamal Hossain, however, is yet to comment on whether its MP-elects will join parliament.

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