The Awami League-led 14-party alliance has welcomed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for deciding to join parliament and uphold its democratic values.
"I want to thank and welcome the four elected lawmakers from BNP, who joined parliament by taking oath on Monday," Mohammed Nasim, Awami League presidium member and spokesperson for the alliance, said on Tuesday.
Nasim made the remarks at a meeting on anti-terrorism and anti-communalism at the ruling party’s office in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
The 14-party spokesperson also urged the newly sworn-in BNP MPs to support Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the initiatives she has taken to prevent terrorism and militancy in Bangladesh.
Also Read- All BNP MPs-elect except Fakhrul take oath
After nearly four months of contentious positions, the BNP decided to join the 11th parliament.
On Monday, four BNP MPs-elect took their oaths in the parliament, administered by Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
Later, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who was elected from Bogra 6 constituency but has decided not to follow his colleagues’ footsteps, addressed the media at a press briefing on Monday, where he said the party had decided to join parliament for the sake of democracy, at the behest of its acting chairman Tarique Rahman.
However, Thakurgaon 3 lawmaker Zahidur Rahman was the first BNP leader to take oath as a member of the 11th parliament on April 25, violating his party's earlier stance.