| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad 151 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registered | 74,946,364 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 74.97% ( 0.63pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Results by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of Bangladesh |
---|
Bangladeshportal |
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 1 October 2001. The 300 seats of the Jatiya Sangsad were contested by 1,935 candidates representing 54 parties and 484 independents. The elections were the second to be held under the caretaker government concept, introduced in 1996.
The result was a victory for the Four Party Alliance of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Jatiya Party (Manju) and Islami Oikya Jote. BNP leader Khaleda Zia became Prime Minister.
The Seventh Parliament headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was dissolved on 13 July 2001, [1] having completed its designated 5-year term (the first parliamentary administration to ever do so) [2] and power was transferred to the caretaker government headed by Justice Latifur Rahman.
The 300 members of the Jatiya Sangsad were elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. [3] The law providing for 30 seats reserved for women had expired prior to the elections. [4]
The international [5] and national monitors declared the polling free and fair despite the Awami League alleging massive vote rigging by the BNP. The accusation was denied by the Chief Election Commissioner, who declared the charges "baseless". [6] International observers, from the European Union, the United Nations and the Carter Center [7] of former US President Jimmy Carter, also praised the heavy voter turnout, which was 75%. [2]
The BNP were the clear winners in terms of seats, winning a secure majority with 193 (of 300) seats. BNP's allied parties Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Jatiya Party (Manju) and Islami Oikya Jote also won a combined 23 seats, bringing the alliance total to 216 seats. As a result of the first-past-the-post voting system in Bangladesh, Awami League only secured 62 seats, despite a difference in popular vote share of only ≈1.4%. Voter turnout was very high at 75%. [2]
Of the 300 seats, only seven were won by women. [8]
The results were highly disproportionate, with the BNP winning 131 more seats than the Awami League despite their popular vote total differing by less than one percentage point.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bangladesh Nationalist Party | 22,833,978 | 40.97 | 193 | |
Awami League | 22,365,516 | 40.13 | 62 | |
Islami Jatiya Oikya Front | 4,038,453 | 7.25 | 14 | |
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami | 2,385,361 | 4.28 | 17 | |
Bangladesh Jatiya Party | 621,772 | 1.12 | 4 | |
Islami Oikya Jote | 376,343 | 0.68 | 2 | |
Krishak Sramik Janata League | 261,344 | 0.47 | 1 | |
Jatiya Party (Manju) | 243,617 | 0.44 | 1 | |
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal | 119,382 | 0.21 | 0 | |
Communist Party of Bangladesh | 56,991 | 0.10 | 0 | |
Workers Party of Bangladesh | 40,484 | 0.07 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Islami Front | 30,761 | 0.06 | 0 | |
BASAD–Khalekuzzaman | 21,164 | 0.04 | 0 | |
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh | 19,256 | 0.03 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan | 13,472 | 0.02 | 0 | |
Gano Forum | 8,494 | 0.02 | 0 | |
Islami Shasantantra Andolon | 5,944 | 0.01 | 0 | |
Liberal Party Bangladesh | 3,976 | 0.01 | 0 | |
National Awami Party (NAP) | 3,801 | 0.01 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Progressive Party | 3,734 | 0.01 | 0 | |
Ganatantri Party | 3,190 | 0.01 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal | 2,308 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Janata Party | 1,703 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Mukti Andolon | 1,248 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Zaker Party | 1,181 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Peoples Congress | 1,155 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Communist Kendra | 1,042 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist–Leninist) | 972 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Hindu League | 922 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Gano Azadi League | 780 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Jatiyo Janata Party (Adv. Nurul Islam Khan) | 657 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Muslim League (Jamir Ali) | 582 | 0.00 | 0 | |
National Patriotic Party | 551 | 0.00 | 0 | |
National Awami Party (Bhashani) | 442 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Jatiya Tanti Dal | 441 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Samridha Bangladesh Andolon | 429 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal | 391 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Peoples Party | 382 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Desh Prem Party | 366 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Democratic Republican Party | 364 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Manabadhikar Dal | 237 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Krisak Sramik Janata Party | 197 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Liberal Democrats Party | 170 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Quran Darshan Sangstha Bangladesh | 161 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Jatiya Janata Party (Sheik Asad) | 148 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Pragatishil Ganotantrik Shakti | 136 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Sama-Samaj Ganotantri Party | 131 | 0.00 | 0 | |
National Awami Party (NAP-Bhashani Mushtaq) | 79 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Quran and Sunnah Bastabayan Party | 77 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bhashani Front | 76 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League | 59 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Bhashani Adarsha Bastabayan Parishad | 58 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Bangladesh Sarbahara Party | 44 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Jatiya Janata Party (Hafizur) | 30 | 0.00 | 0 | |
Independents | 2,262,073 | 4.06 | 6 | |
Total | 55,736,625 | 100.00 | 300 | |
Valid votes | 55,736,625 | 99.20 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 449,082 | 0.80 | ||
Total votes | 56,185,707 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 74,946,364 | 74.97 | ||
Source: ECB |
There were reports of violence targeting minority Hindus in the immediate wake of the elections. [9]
With a clear majority BNP leader Khaleda Zia was invited to form a government and on 10 October 2001, was sworn in as Prime Minister and formed her Cabinet, which included members of her allied parties. The first sitting of the Eighth Parliament occurred on 28 October 2001 [1] with Jamiruddin Sircar as its new Speaker.
In 2004, a constitutional amendment was passed reinstating the reserved seats for women and increasing the number from 30 to 45. The seats were now allocated based on the proportion of seats won by each party rather than being elected by directly elected MPs. The reserved seats were to be allocated on 6 September 2005 but the Awami League refused to nominate candidates for the nine seats the party was entitled to in protest at the seats not being directly elected. On 2 October the nine vacant seats were reallocated, of which six went to the BNP. After the reallocation, the BNP had 36 reserved seats, Islami Jatiya Oikya Front four, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami three and the Bangladesh Jatiya Party and Islami Oikya Jote one each. [10] [11] [8]
Zia's administration completed a full five-year term, running from 28 October 2001 to 27 October 2006. However, disputes over the selection of a caretaker government, with disagreements between the parties over their neutrality, led to the 2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis, which eventually resulted in military intervention. New elections were not held until December 2008.
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.
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.
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, officially Prime minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is the chief executive of the government of Bangladesh. The prime minister and the cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate. The prime minister is ceremonially appointed by the president of Bangladesh.
Islami Jatiya Oikya Front was a short-lived political alliance in Bangladesh. Formed in 2001, it was one of the three principal contenders in that year's parliamentary elections. Led by the Jatiya Party (Ershad), it also included the Islami Shashontantra Andolan (ISA) and three smaller parties.
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.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 29 December 2008. The two main parties in the election were the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and the Bangladesh Awami League Party, led by Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awami League Party formed a fourteen-party Grand Alliance including Ershad's Jatiya Party, while the BNP formed a four-party alliance which included the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami. The election was originally scheduled for January 2007, but it was postponed by a military-controlled caretaker government for an extended period of time.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 27 February 1991. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) emerged as the largest party in parliament, winning 140 of the 300 directly elected seats. The BNP formed a government with the support of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and on 20 March Khaleda Zia was sworn in for her first term as Prime Minister.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 12 June 1996. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Awami League, which won 146 of the 300 directly elected seats, beginning Sheikh Hasina's first-term as Prime Minister. Voter turnout was 75%, the highest to date. This election was the second to be held in 1996, following controversial elections held in February a few months earlier.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 3 March 1988. They were boycotted by several major parties, including the Bangladesh Awami League, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League, the National Awami Party (Muzaffar) and the Workers Party of Bangladesh. The result was a victory for the Jatiya Party, which won 251 of the 300 seats. Voter turnout was 52%.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 15 February 1996. They were boycotted by most opposition parties, and saw voter turnout drop to just 15%. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which won 278 of the 300 directly elected seats. This administration was short-lived, however, only lasting 12 days before the installation of caretaker government and fresh elections held in June.
A caretaker government of Bangladesh, is an unelected interim government in Bangladesh tasked with organizing free and fair general elections. The Chief Adviser, the head of government in lieu of the Prime Minister, is appointed by the President. The Chief Advisor appoints other advisers, who act as ministers. The appointments are intended to be nonpartisan.
The history of Bangladesh (1971–present) refers to the period after the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
A constitutional referendum was held in Bangladesh on 15 September 1991. Voters were asked "Should or not the President assent to the Constitution Bill, 1991 of the People's Republic of Bangladesh?" The amendments would lead to the reintroduction of parliamentary government, with the President becoming the constitutional head of state, but the Prime Minister the executive head. It also abolished the position of vice-president and would see the President elected by Parliament.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 5 January 2014, in accordance with the constitutional requirement that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the term of the Jatiya Sangshad on 24 January 2014.
The 20 Party Alliance was a Bangladeshi coalition of right-wing political parties, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. It was originally formed as the 18 Party Alliance on 18 April 2012 in Dhaka, extending its predecessor the Four Party Alliance. The 18 Party Alliance was formed in an effort to strengthen the opposition's demands for restoring the caretaker government system used between 1996 and 2008. The main rival of this alliance is the Grand Alliance, led by Awami League, which came into power after the election in 2008.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was another landslide victory for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance led by Sheikh Hasina. The elections were marred by violence, and were widely considered by opposition politicians and the international community to be rigged.
Jatiya Oikya Front was a Bangladesh-based political alliance of primarily four parties led by Kamal Hossain. The front officially declared its formation on October 13, 2018 at the National Press Club ahead of the national election.
The next general elections in Bangladesh are expected to take place to elect members of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad, following the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina's government by student-led protests, and the implementation of constitutional and institutional reforms by the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. A constituent assembly election will take place before the general elections, The interim government has established a Constitutional Reform Commission for this purpose.
General elections are held in Bangladesh to elect members of the Jatiya Sangsad, the unicameral national parliament. The Jatiya Sangsad consists of 300 members elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies and 50 seats reserved for women, which are allocated based on the proportional vote share received by parties. Elections are overseen by the Bangladesh Election Commission.