Former Bangladesh prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia has rejected the official results of the parliamentary elections, alleging widespread fraud.

"It is a farcical election," Khaleda Zia said in a news conference early Wednesday.

Election officials said late Tuesday that former premier Sheikh Hasina's party had won 229 seats and her alliance a landslide 263 seats in the 300-member parliament. The final results are still not in for five seats.

"So we reject the election outcome," said Zia, who has been Hasina's archrival for about two decades.

Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) filed complaints with the Election Commission, charging ballot-rigging and forgery at 220 polling stations and accusing election officials of registering fake votes.

Meanwhile, Election Commission Secretary Humayun Kabir said, "This has been a very free and fair election."

International observers, including European Union monitors, urged the opposition to accept the results, AP reported.

After the victory, Hasina told UN election observers that she wanted to work with all sides, including the opposition, to strengthen democracy and achieve economic progress, a spokesman for her Awami League told reporters.

Millions of voters cast their ballots on Monday as the country held its first election in seven years.

In 2001, Zia's BNP swept to power in the parliamentary elections and remained in office for a full five-year term.

The election was originally scheduled to be held two years earlier, but was delayed all this time after an army-backed interim government imposed emergency rule.

AGB/HGL