Former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia waited today to resume power in Bangladesh as the volatile country digested the full impact of her surprise landslide election victory.
With a handful of results still to come in, defeated prime minister Sheikh Hasina accused Khaleda and her Islamic allies of rigging Monday's parliamentary poll and predicted that the people would reject the result.
But sources within Hasina's Awami League said that it was a time for reflection rather than action.
"We need a proper evaluation of why we faced a disaster in the polls," one source, requesting anonymity, said.
Six people died in election day violence in the impoverished and mainly Muslim country of 130 million people, following one of the most violent campaigns in its 30-year history.
Since then, there have been no reports of violence.
Unofficial results for 282 of the parliament's 300 seats credited Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) with 185 seats and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami with 16.
Sheikh Hasina's Awami League trailed with 62 seats. The National Islamic Unity Front, which includes a faction of centre-right Jatiya Party headed by former army ruler and President Hossain Mohammad Ershad, won 14 seats. Five seats went to two smaller parties and independents.
It was not immediately clear if President Shahabuddin Ahmed would invite Khaleda to form the country's new government immediately or wait until all the results had been declared.
Khaleda has urged all political parties, including her Awami League rivals, to unite behind a drive for peace and prosperity.
"Let us all work together to restore rule of law, fight corruption and lead the country on the path of prosperity," a triumphant Khaleda, 56, told a news conference yesterday.