Bangladesh - Politics

In December 1990, following mass demonstrations, President Hossain Ershad resigned and was put under house arrest. During 1991 he was convicted of illegal possession of firearms and other offences and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. In the February 1991 elections the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won 138 of 300 seats and Begum Khaleda Zia was confirmed as the country’s first woman prime minister. The main opposition was the Awami League and its allies, with 95 seats. A national referendum then endorsed a return to parliamentary democracy with a non-executive president. In 1991 a cyclone devastated the south-east coast, killing an estimated 138,000 people.

Political tensions mounted and opposition demands for fresh elections became more strident until 1994, when the entire parliamentary opposition resigned and intensified its campaign of mass demonstrations and general strikes. The president finally dissolved parliament in November 1995 and in the first elections in February 1996, the Awami League, Jatiya Party and Jamaat-e-Islami boycotted the poll and the BNP took the majority of votes cast. The opposition parties renewed their campaign and paralysed the country causing severe damage to the economy. In March 1996, the government agreed to the appointment of a neutral caretaker government to oversee the holding of fresh elections. Begum Zia resigned and parliament was dissolved.

In the parliamentary elections that followed in June 1996, the Awami League gained 146 of the 300 elective seats, the BNP 116, Jatiya Party 32 and Jamaat-e-Islami three. An informal alliance with the Jatiya Party allowed the Awami League to gain control of the majority of seats in parliament and Sheikh Hasina became prime minister, with Begum Zia’s BNP now the main opposition which soon began a new campaign of strikes and street protests and a series of long parliamentary boycotts. In 1997 Ershad was released from prison and in March 1998 the Jatiya Party left the ruling coalition. The Awami League, which as a result of a number of by-elections now had an absolute majority, continued on its own. In 1998 the country was again devastated by floods which covered nearly two-thirds of the land area.

Following a very violent campaign, in October 2001, the four-party alliance led by the BNP won a surprise landslide victory; the BNP took 191 seats and its largest ally the Jamaat-e-Islami 18, while the Awami League trailed with 62 and the Islamic National Unity Front, which included a faction of the Jatiya Party led by Ershad, took 14.

Although international observers declared the general election to be largely free and fair and both the head of the caretaker government and the chief election commissioner rejected the Awami League’s allegation of massive vote-rigging, Sheikh Hasina called for the elections to be run again, threatening mass protests and a parliamentary boycott, which had characterised opposition politics during previous administrations. The Awami League subsequently returned to parliament and assumed its role as opposition.

The political temperature remained very high in 2003. In June 2003 the Awami League began a boycott of parliament, which continued until June 2004. During 2004 the opposition called 21 general strikes as part of a campaign to oust the government.

In October 2006, a general election was called for January 2007 and President Iajuddin Ahmed formed a caretaker government. In early January 2007, it was confirmed that the Awami League and other smaller opposition parties were to boycott the election on the belief that the interim government and election commission were biased. Following national transport blockades raised by Awami League supporters who wanted the election postponed and ensuing riots, a state of emergency was imposed and President Ahmed postponed the election, stood down as chief adviser of the interim government and was succeeded by Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, former central bank governor. The Election Commission then established a road map for electoral reform, including preparation of a new voters’ list with photographs. It was announced that elections would be held in 2008.

The election – held in late December 2008 with Commonwealth observers present – was won by the alliance led by the Awami League, which itself took 230 seats; its ally the Jatiya Party 27. The BNP won 29 seats and its allies three. Turnout was 87%. Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina was sworn in as prime minister in January 2009. The following month, Zillur Rahman was chosen by parliament to replace Iajuddin Ahmed as non-executive president.

In February 2009, the new government faced its first crisis when a section of the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutinied, ostensibly over pay and conditions. Officials reported 74 deaths – mostly BDR officers – and many more missing. In the aftermath the government launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the mutiny.