It is true that the US and several other Western nations have been increasingly putting emphasis on holding credible elections in countries like ours’ for quite some time. But it has rarely featured in such detail at this level.
To make the general elections credible, the Election Commission as well as the government will try to convince the BNP to participate in the elections. Since the BNP said it would not do so under the incumbent government, it would not be surprising if anyone left the party to contest in the elections as an independent candidate.