Election has widened political gap instead of narrowing it

A polling station on January 7 election day.

The January 7 general elections appear to have exacerbated the political divide instead of uniting the nation. The political language of the ruling Awami League and the main opposition BNP has gone far away to mutual exclusion rather than inclusion.

The AL and its allies say with 41 percent total votes cast the ruling alliance says it has got the mandate to rule the country for another five years. BNP now has only option and that's to wait for another five years, AL general secretary Obaidul Quader told journalists the other day.

The BNP and its allies say on ther other hand that the election has been rejected by the people as the turnout was below ten percent. The polls gave the goverment no legitimacy. The main opposition wants fresh election under a nonpartisan neutral government.

The election has not brought the government and the opposition to talking terms. They have gone further away from each other which the people definitely do not welcome.