In Bangladesh, the sixth session of the ninth parliament began today with the main opposition party the Bangladesh Nationalist Party still continuing its boycott of parliamentary proceedings.In his inaugural remarks, the Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Mr. Abdul Hamid said that he expected that the Opposition would help accelerate the advancement of the parliamentary democracy in the country by joining the parliament session. He said like the Treasury Bench, the Opposition has equal role to play for making the parliament effective because the Opposition can identify mistakes of the government and play a positive role by putting the government on the right track through its constructive criticism. The BNP which has been staying away from the parliament proceedings has convened a meeting of its National standing committee on Tuesday to decide on the issue of joining parliament. The BNP has asserted that the Speaker and the Government should create a favourable environment for the party’s lawmakers to return to the house by addressing their demands. The Party has put forward several demands which include withdrawal of the order cancelling the parole of BNP leader Khaleda Zia’s son Arafat Rahman Koko and withdrawal of the cases filed against BNP leaders and workers including BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and her family members.