Bangladesh's BNP Concedes Defeat
Thursday, January 1 2009
The Awami League, led by Ms. Zia's longtime rival Sheikh Hasina, won an overwhelming majority in the country's first parliamentary vote in seven years.
The BNP had earlier rejected the election outcome as "farcical" and unacceptable.
Ms. Hasina had called on the BNP to accept defeat and work with the Awami League to restore democracy in the country after nearly two years of emergency rule.
In a news conference Wednesday, Ms. Hasina pledged to work with all political parties and said she is prepared to offer senior political posts to the opposition in exchange for their cooperation. Ms. Hasina is also a former prime minister of Bangladesh.
Election commission officials said Ms. Hasina's Awami League and its allies won about two-thirds of the seats, and international monitors deemed the election "credible."
Observers also welcomed the high voter turnout, with about 85 percent of the 81 million eligible voters casting ballots.
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