BNP to rejoin parliament.............

The opposition will rejoin parliament this session, BNP finally announced after a parliamentary party meeting on Sunday.

"We will join parliament very soon," opposition chief whip Joynal Abdin Faruq told reporters after the meeting adjourned shortly after 7pm.

The long-awaited decision, resolving a bitter dispute over seating order in the House, came following almost three hours of deliberations at Khaleda Zia's parliament office.

"BNP would like to play its role effectively in parliament, which so far has been impeded by the government. In today's meeting, we'll decide the issue finally," senior BNP parliamentarian Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury told us before the meeting.

He hinted his party was keen to re-join "during this session", so that they may have their say on the ordinances promulgated during the caretaker government's rule.

The boycott began as the seating arrangement of outgoing speaker Jamiruddin Sircar, allotting BNP MPs nine seats in the first row and ten in the second, was altered by incoming speaker Abdul Hamid.

The opposition walked out on Jan 28, refused to rejoin parliament, after Hamid reduced BNP to four seats each in the frontmost and second rows "in line with their total number of MPs.

Both sides finally conciliatory

Speaker Abdul Hamid held a meeting with the chief whips of the ruling and opposition parties at the end of last week.

"Hamid proposed some changes to the seating arrangements," said Faruq

The speaker has reportedly offered more front row seats to the opposition for the next parliamentary session.

The prime minister had also sounded optimistic that the parliamentary boycott would end on Sunday as the speaker had made a conciliatory offer on the seat dispute.

"The speaker has made a move to bring the main opposition back," Sheikh Hasina said at an orientation programme for first-time MPs.

"He may have to fulfil some of their demands to that end," said the prime minister, who appeared to have softened her stance on the row.

"I hope they will return to the House soon," she said.