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Early general elections are expected to be held in Bangladesh to elect members of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the formation of an interim government with Muhammad Yunus as its Chief Advisor.
The 12th Sangsad was dissolved by President Mohammed Shahabuddin following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina. [1] In June 2024, student protests erupted throughout the country, demanding the reform of quotas in government jobs. The protests were met with brutal crackdown by law-enforcement agencies and paramilitary forces, resulting in the deaths of many students. By August, the protests intensified into large-scale civil unrest against the government which eventually culminated in Hasina's resignation on 5 August.
Following negotiations between student leaders and the Armed Forces, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed as Chief Adviser to head an interim government with a view to leading the country to new elections. [2]
The Awami League won the January 2024 general elections and formed the government. [3] There was record low turnout, and it was a controversial election. The United States Department of State, in a statement, said that the election was not free and fair [4] and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office termed the election lacking the preconditions of democracy. [5] According to The Economist, through this election, Bangladesh effectively became a one-party state. [6]
The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), demanded that the government hand over power to a neutral caretaker government before the January 2024 elections. [7] This was rejected by Hasina, who vowed that "Bangladesh will never allow an unelected government again". [8] Hasina's resistance to a caretaker government arose following the 2006–2008 crisis, during which a caretaker government assumed military control of the country and arrested a number of political leaders, including Hasina and Khaleda Zia. [9] Zia was sentenced to prison for five years on February 8, 2018, for her involvement in the Zia Orphanage corruption case. [10] The sentence was then modified to 10 years. [11] Zia’s successor as chair of the party, her son Tarique Rahman, was also found guilty of criminal conspiracy and multiple counts of murder for a grenade attack in 2004 that injured Hasina and killed 24 people. [12] He was sentenced to life in prison. As such, he was barred from running for office. [13] Zia was released by Shahabuddin following Hasina's resignation. [14]
The 350 members of the Jatiya Sangsad consist of 300 directly elected seats using first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies, and an additional 50 seats reserved for women. The reserved seats are elected proportionally by the elected members. Each parliament sits for a five-year term. [15]
| Polling agency | Date published | Sample size | Margin of error | AL | BNP | JP(E) | Student supported–New Party | Jamaat | IAB | Others | Independents | Can't say | Undecided | None | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh Speaks | September 2024 | 5,115 (field) | ± 1.4% | 5% | 21% | 1% | 10% | 14% | 3% | 1% | 3% | 4% | 34% | 2% | 7% |
| 3,581 (online) | ± 1.67% | 10% | 15% | 0% | 35% | 25% | 1% | 1% | 3% | – | 11% | 3% | 10% |
| Polling agency | Date published | Sample size | Margin of error | AL | BNP | JP(E) | ADSM | Jamaat | IAB | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polling agency | Date published | Sample size | Margin of error | AL | BNP | JP(E) | ADSM | Jamaat | IAB | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polling agency | Date published | Sample size | Margin of error | AL | BNP | JP(E) | ADSM | Jamaat | IAB | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance/ Party | Popular vote | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Contested | Won | +/− | ||||
| 14 Party | Awami League | ||||||||
| Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal | |||||||||
| Workers Party of Bangladesh | |||||||||
| Total | |||||||||
| 12 Party | |||||||||
| Bangladesh Nationalist Party | |||||||||
| Total | |||||||||
| Left Democratic Alliance | Communist Party of Bangladesh | ||||||||
| Socialist Party of Bangladesh | |||||||||
| United Communist League of Bangladesh | |||||||||
| Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist) | |||||||||
| Total | |||||||||
| Jatiya Party (Ershad) | |||||||||
| Islami Andolan Bangladesh | |||||||||
| Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami | |||||||||
| Others | |||||||||
| IND | |||||||||
| Total | - | - | |||||||
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.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party is a major political party in Bangladesh. Founded on 1 September 1978 by the late Bangladeshi president Ziaur Rahman, with a view of uniting people with a nationalist ideology, BNP later came out as one of the two most dominant parties in Bangladesh, along with its archrival Awami League. Initially being a big tent centrist party, it moved towards more right-wing politics later.
Begum Khaleda Zia is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and second female prime minister in the Muslim world, after Benazir Bhutto. She is the widow of one of the former presidents of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman. She is the chairperson and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since 1984, which was founded by her husband in 1978.
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.
The Jatiya Sangsad, often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women. Elected occupants are called members of Parliament, or MPs. The 12th national parliamentary election was held on 7 January 2024. Elections to the body are held every five years, unless a parliament is dissolved earlier by the President of Bangladesh. On 6 August 2024, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament after the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and ordered to form a interim government.
Sheikh Hasina Wazed is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father and first president of Bangladesh. Having served for a combined total of over 20 years, she is the longest serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh. She was the world's longest-serving female head of government. Her regime ended in self-imposed exile following a series of violent protests in 2024.
Hussain Muhammad Ershad was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the leader of Bangladesh from 1982 to 1990, ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1982 to 1983 and as president of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990.
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 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis began as a caretaker government (CTG) assumed power at the end of October 2006 following the end of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party administration. The BNP government increased the chief justice's retirement age in an unconstitutional way to bias the appointment of the head of the caretaker government. CTG manages the government during the interim 90-day period and parliamentary elections. Political conflict began with the alleged appointment of a Chief Adviser, a role which devolved to the President, Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed. The interim period was marked from the beginning by violent protests initiated by the Awami League named Logi Boitha Andolan, with 40 people killed and hundreds injured in the first month. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party had its own complaints about the process and the opposition.
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 the Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami 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 74.96%, 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 15 February 1996. They were boycotted by most opposition parties, and saw voter turnout drop to just 21%. 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.
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.
An interim government led by the Shahabuddin Ahmed ministry was formed on 9 December 1990 in Bangladesh, following President HM Ershad's resignation on 6 December in the face of a mass uprising against his regime. Shahabuddin had taken office as the acting president of the country after he was unanimously agreed upon by the leaders of all political parties to be ceremoniously appointed by Ershad just before resigning as vice-president in place of Moudud Ahmed. He administered the oath of office to his council of advisers at Bangabhaban on 9 December 1990. During this period, he gave back freedom of the press by amending a number of law including the Special Powers Act.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 7 January 2024 in accordance with the current constitutional requirement, stating that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the current term of the Jatiya Sangsad on 29 January 2024. The Awami League, led by incumbent Sheikh Hasina, won the election for the fourth consecutive time with less than 10% of the eligible voters voting according to an Election Commission, which is run by the ruling political party. The party won 224 seats while independent candidates, most of whom were Awami League members propped up as dummy candidates to give a semblance of competition, won 62 seats.
Mohammed Shahabuddin, also known as Chuppu, is the 16th and incumbent President of Bangladesh. A jurist, civil servant and politician, he was elected unopposed in the 2023 presidential election in the nomination of the ruling Awami League. Prior to his presidency, Shahabuddin served as a district and sessions judge and a commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission from 2011 to 2016.
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.
Enam Ahmed Chowdhury is a retired secretary and former chairman of the Privatization Commission. He is an Awami League politician and former Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician.
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