Bangladeshi opposition ends boycott of parliament

Bangladesh’s main opposition Awami League will end its year-long boycott and return to parliament tomorrow, a party spokesman said.

“We will return to the House on Sunday after holding a parliamentary party eeting,” opposition chief whip Abdus Shaheed told reporters today, after a meeting with the party chief, Sheikh Hasina.

The Awami League’s 56 lawmakers have boycotted parliament since January 31 last year, accusing the government of autocratic behaviour.

But on Wednesday, the party announced that its lawmakers were willing to give the government one last chance to address its concerns, including electoral reforms ahead of the next general elections that are due in January, 2007.

Deputy parliamentary speaker, Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui, welcomed the opposition decision.

“Let them come and place their demands in parliament,” said Siddiqui, who belongs to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party.