The World - News from March 14, 1988

Bangladesh President Hussain Mohammed Ershad’s ruling party increased its already wide margin in Parliament by picking up two more seats in weekend voting. The major opposition parties, which have been waging a campaign to oust Ershad, boycotted the balloting. The new voting was held in nine districts where violence during the main election March 3 had forced a delay. Ershad’s party now has 249 seats in the 330-member legislature. Meanwhile, Ershad told thousands of Muslim pilgrims that the new Parliament will adapt the country’s secular constitution to Koranic law--the first step toward turning Bangladesh into an Islamic republic.