1978 Bangladeshi presidential election

Last updated

1978 Bangladeshi presidential election
Flag of Bangladesh.svg
  1974 3 June 1978 1981  
Turnout54.27%
  Ziaur Rahman 1979.jpg M A G Osmani.jpg
Candidate Ziaur Rahman M. A. G. Osmani
Party Jatiyatabadi Front Ganatantrik Oikkya Jote
Popular vote15,733,8074,455,200
Percentage76.63%21.70%

President before election

Ziaur Rahman
Military Junta

President

Ziaur Rahman
Jatiyatabadi Front

Presidential elections were held in Bangladesh on 3 June 1978. They were the first direct elections for presidency in the country, as the president had previously been elected by the Jatiya Sangsad. [1] The result was a victory for Ziaur Rahman, who received 77% of the votes. Voter turnout was 54%. [2]

Contents

It was the first presidential election since the August 1975 coup, which overthrew and killed President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and lead to a military regime. [3] The 1978 presidential elections were called by the military regime to lend legitimacy to its rule. [3] The election took place amid martial law, repression of the political opposition, and curtailment of press freedoms. [3] Other political parties were weakly organized.

Campaign

Prior to the elections six parties backing Ziaur Rahman – the Bangladesh Labour Party, the Bangladesh Muslim League, the Bangladesh Scheduled Caste Federation, Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal, the National Awami Party (Bhashani) and the United Peoples' Party – formed the Jatiyatabadi Front (Nationalist Front) to support his candidacy. [4]

M. A. G. Osmani was also supported by an alliance of six parties under the name Ganatantrik Oikkya Jote (United Democratic Alliance). The alliance consisted of the Awami League, the Communist Party, the Gano Adaji League, the Jatiya Janata Party, the National Awami Party (Muzaffar) and the People's League. [4]

A group of parties led by Ataur Rahman boycotted the elections, including the Democratic League, the Islamic Democratic League, Jatiya Dal, the Jatiya League and the Krishak Sramik Party. [4]

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Ziaur Rahman Jatiyatabadi Front15,733,80776.63
M. A. G. Osmani Ganatantrik Oikkya Jote4,455,20021.70
Khabiruddin AhmedIndependent81,4250.40
Abul BasherJatiya Janomukti Union51,9360.25
Azizul IslamIndependent49,0640.24
Golam MorshedIndependent38,1930.19
Abdus SamadIslamic Democratic Group37,2730.18
Sirajul HudaJatiya Dal (Huda)35,6180.17
Abu Bakar SiddiqueIndependent25,0770.12
Abdul HamidJatiya Gano Mukti23,9680.12
Total20,531,561100.00
Valid votes20,531,56198.31
Invalid/blank votes354,0101.69
Total votes20,885,571100.00
Registered voters/turnout38,486,24754.27
Source: Nohlen et al., Asian Affairs [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Bangladesh</span> Politics in Bangladesh

Politics of Bangladesh takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is the head of government and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Constitution of Bangladesh was written in 1972 and has undergone seventeen amendments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangladesh Nationalist Party</span> Political party in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is a major political party in Bangladesh. Founded on 1 September 1978 by Bangladeshi president Ziaur Rahman with a view of uniting people with a nationalist ideology, BNP later became one of the two dominant parties in Bangladesh, along with its archrival Awami League. Initially a big tent centrist party, it later moved towards more right-wing politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hussain Muhammad Ershad</span> President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990

Hussain Muhammad Ershad was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the president of Bangladesh from 1982 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Bangladesh</span>

Bangladesh elects on national level a legislature with one house or chamber. The unicameral Jatiyo Sangshad, meaning national parliament, has 350 members of which 300 members are directly elected through a national election for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies while 50 memberships are reserved for the women who are selected by the ruling party or coalition. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. The president who is the head of the state is elected by the National Parliament. The president of Bangladesh is a ceremonial post and does not exercise any control over the running of the state.

The Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League was a political front comprising the Bangladesh Awami League, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, the National Awami Party (Muzaffar) and Bangladesh Jatiya League.

The Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal was a political faction of the supporters of the then-president of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman, under the coordination of then-vice president Abdus Sattar Justice. It is considered as the principle predecessor of the modern Bangladesh Nationalist Party that was formed on 1 September 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal</span> Political party in Bangladesh

The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal is a political party in Bangladesh. The party was founded by Serajul Alam Khan. The party was dominant during the 1972–1975 Bangladesh insurgency. The current party president is Hasanul Haque Inu, and the general secretary is Nazmul Haq Prodhan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1973 Bangladeshi general election</span>

General elections were held in newly independent Bangladesh on 7 March 1973. A total of 1,078 candidates and 14 political parties contested the elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 Bangladeshi general election</span>

General elections were held in Bangladesh on 18 February 1979. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the party of the incumbent military regime, which won 207 of the 300 directly elected seats, although it only won 41% of the vote. Voter turnout was 51%. The Awami League became the main opposition party after winning 39 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Bangladeshi general election</span>

General elections were held in Bangladesh on 7 May 1986. A total of 1,527 candidates contested the elections. The result was a victory for the Jatiya Party, which won 153 of the 300 directly elected seats. Voter turnout was 61%. Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the winner of the previous elections, boycotted the election.

Hajee Mohammad Danesh was a Bangladeshi politician and communist activist born in the British India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1981 Bangladeshi presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Bangladesh on 15 November 1981. The result was a victory for the incumbent acting President Abdus Sattar of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who received 66% of the vote, beating his principal challenger Kamal Hossain of the Awami League. Voter turnout was 57%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Bangladeshi presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Bangladesh on 15 October 1986. The result was a victory for incumbent Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who had assumed the office in 1983 following a military coup. Ershad reportedly won 84% of the vote with a voter turnout of 55%. However the elections were controversial as they were boycotted by all major opposition candidates and there were reports of irregularities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Mass Uprising in Bangladesh</span> Pro-democratic revolution in the South Asian country

The 1990 Mass Uprising, popularly known as '90's Anti-Authoritarian Movement, was a democratic movement that took place on 4 December and led to the fall of General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in Bangladesh. The uprising was the result of a series of popular protests that started from 10 October 1990 to topple General Ershad who came to power in 1982 by imposing martial law and replaced a democratically elected President through a bloodless coup.

Sheikh Shawkat Hossain was a Bangladeshi politician and chairman of the National People's Party.

The Sayem ministry led what eventually became the first interim government in independent Bangladesh and an unofficial model for future interim regimes. It was formed on 8 November 1975, following the assassination of Brig. Gen. Khaled Mosharraf on 7 November amid a nationwide soldier and public uprising against his 3 November coup d'état. After a three-day coup with support of some high-ranking officers and his Dhaka Brigade, Mosharraf had forced Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, who, following the 15 August coup that assassinated the founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, replaced him as President of Bangladesh with support of the mid-ranking assassin officers, to resign. Chief Justice Sayem, with the constitutional requirement for the direct election of the president and role of the vice-president as acting president suspended by Mostaq under a martial law proclamation, had been installed in his place. With Mosharraf's death, the responsibility of CMLA fell on Sayem.

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p525 ISBN   0-19-924958-X
  2. Nohlen et al., p544
  3. 1 2 3 Baxter, Craig; Rashiduzzaman, M. (1981). "Bangladesh Votes: 1978 and 1979". Asian Survey. 21 (4): 485–500. doi:10.2307/2643936. ISSN   0004-4687.
  4. 1 2 3 M. A. Singammal (1979) "1978 presidential election in Bangla Desh", The Indian Journal of Political Science, volume 40, number 1, pp97–110
  5. Asian Affairs, Volume 8, p37