Sayeed Muhammad of DOT :
Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain hints at the possibility of two candidates from his party who won in the December 30 polls taking their seats in the House.
“We are looking at the matter positively,” said Dr Kamal, also the Jatiya Oikya Front chief, reports BDnews. “And we will take a positive decision.”
There were doubts if the party-backed candidates would take their seats because the opposition alliance boycotted the results of the 11th general election.
Candidates succeeding with the ticket of Awami League and Jatiya Party took their oaths of office on Thursday, but the two Gono Forum winners and five BNP winners refrained from doing so.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who is among the five successful aspirants from the party, then said: “The time for taking oaths has passed. Why would we take office if we are boycotting the results? We say clearly that we will not take the oaths.”
Dr Kamal indicated that his party may diverge from the decision of its allies at a meeting on Saturday.
Asked whether the two winning Gono Forum candidates would take their seats, he said: “We are adopting a positive approach.”
“The two candidates who won did so in the face of difficult competition. We will take positive decisions in their case.”
Gono Forum candidate and former DUCSU Vice President Sultan Mohammad Monsur won as the paddy sheaf candidate from Moulvibazar-2, while Gono Forum’s Mukabbir Khan won with the party’s ‘rising sun’ symbol.
Asked whether Monsur’s election win under a paddy sheaf symbol could cause issues with the BNP, Kamal said he did not believe it would.
Kamal Hossain, a former Awami League leader, formed the Jatiya Oikya Front alliance with the BNP, but the two groups publicly disagreed on several matters.
This is the first time that the Gono Forum has won any seats since Kamal Hossain left the Awami League and formed the party.
Lawmakers who do not take their seats within 90 days will be dismissed and by-elections will be held for their seats.