WE are saddened, though not surprised, that BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia has termed die JS election stage-managed and, as such, unacceptable to her party. However, she did not quite elaborate, beyond a trite generalisation, how and where things went wrong.

Now, people would really like to take the utterances of the BNP chairperson seriously, provided she comes up with solid evidence to substantiate her claim. Begum Zia is not only the chairperson of one of the two major parties but she was also the prime minister of the country for two terms. So, whatever she says should carry due weight. The only thing she has said in support of her contention is that while around 45% votes were cast in die first fours hours of polling, the percentage rose suddenly widiin a short time though the polling booths were almost empty in the afternoon. The point she has tried to make is that there were massive irregularities like stuffing of ballot boxes. But the magnitude of the AL victory would have required irregularities on a scale that could not have escaped the notice of about two lakh local and foreign observers, journalists from the print and the electronic media and, of course, the BNP’s polling agents who were present in every centre, as were the law enforcers.

We fully understand that the election results have greatiy disappointed Begum Zia and her party leaders. But this is certainly not something that political leaders and parties never experienced before. British Prime MinisterWinston Churchill and his party had to face a major debacle in the election after he led Britain to victory in the Second World War. And in our context, the Muslim League was trounced in the 1954 provincial assembly polls. In 1993-94 election in Canada, the Conservative Party got only two seats. Even if we don’t want to go that far, the Awami League itself had to swallow the bitter pill in 2001, managing only 62 seats! It is all decided by the people and their verdict is what the parties have to accept gracefully. One has to admit that fluctuating fortunes are partof politics and the prime virtue of a political party is to learn from such reversals and forge ahead through the tumults.

The BNP has a big role to play as the major opposition party in the next five years. People will certainly expect the party to show a degree of political maturity and acumen in performing its designated job.