Negotiations to form the next British government are underway after opposition Conservatives gained the most seats in parliamentary elections, but not enough to immediately take power.
Results from the vote Thursday show Conservatives won 306 seats in the 650-seat parliament, while Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labor party won 258. Both are far short of the 326 seats needed for an absolute majority.
That means the third-place Liberal Democrats, who have secured 57 seats, have become a sought-after coalition partner.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, said the Conservatives should have the first chance to try to form a government since they won the most seats.
Conservative leader David Cameron acknowledged policy differences with the Liberal Democrats, but offered to work together with the party on areas of agreement.
Prime Minister Brown said if talks between the two parties do not succeed, he too would be willing to work with Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. He also promised to introduce legislation to reform the electoral system -- one of their major demands.
VOA Bangla held a roundtable discussion with Shantanu Majumder on the general election of United Kingdom. Shantanu Majumder is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Political Science at Dhaka University. He is now completing his PhD in London, United Kingdom.
United Kingdom now has the first Bengali-British MP Rushnara Ali. Britain’s opposition conservatives have won 306 seats to become the biggest party in parliament. What will be the biggest challenge to the newly formed government? Several issues like these were discussed in today’s roundtable discussion.
