Jatiya Party (JaPa) will participate in the upcoming 12th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) election, JaPa Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu said today.

"We have decided to join the elections following the assurance of the Election Commission and the government," he said during a press briefing on Wednesday (22 November).

The party will contest the election with candidates in 300 constituencies, the JaPa leader added.

"We have not discussed colation with any party yet. We are not even thinking about that," Chunnu said.

He also said that if the expelled leaders want to contest from JaPa, the party chairman will decide about allowing them back.

Earlier, Chunnu said as there is no visible effort to hold political talks, the JaPa will decide within a couple of days whether the party will join the next national election or not.

He said although US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu sent letters to three major parties for talks, so far there has been no sign of dialogue.

Chunnu said the BNP did not clearly say anything about the dialogue while the ruling party turned it down.

In this situation, he said there is now a question of whether the Jatiya Party will go to the election or not.

"Our senior leaders will convene a meeting of our praesidium members, if necessary, and we'll decide through discussions within a day or two whether we will go to the polls or not," Chunnu said.

He, however, said their party still wants political talks to ensure a credible and participatory election.

On 15 November, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal announced that the 12th parliamentary election of the country will be held on 7 January.

The CEC came up with the announcement for the next election schedule while addressing the nation.

Soon after the announcement of the Election Schedule, Jatiya Party chief patron Raushan Ershad welcomed it through a statement.

Some leaders, loyal to Raushan, said they would participate in the election, but most of the party's grassroots leaders loyal to its chairman GM Quader at a recent meeting suggested not going to polls under the current government.