February 1996 Bangladeshi general election
← 1991 15 February 1996 June 1996 →
300 of the 330 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad
151 seats needed for a majority
Registered56,149,182
Turnout21% Decrease 34.4 pp
  First party
 
Leader Khaleda Zia
Party BNP
Last election 30.81%, 140 seats
Seats won 278
Seat change Increase138
Prime Minister before election

Khaleda Zia
BNP

Subsequent Prime Minister

Khaleda Zia
BNP

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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%.[1] The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which won 278 of the 300 directly elected seats.[1] This administration was short-lived, however, only lasting 12 days[2] before the installation of caretaker government and fresh elections held in June.

Background

In March 1994, controversy over a parliamentary by-election, which the Bangladesh Awami League-led opposition claimed the BNP government had rigged, led to an indefinite boycott of Parliament by the entire opposition.[3] The opposition also began a program of repeated general strikes to press its demand that Khaleda Zia's government resign and that a caretaker government supervise a general election.[3] Efforts to mediate the dispute, under the auspices of the Commonwealth Secretariat, failed. After another attempt at a negotiated settlement failed narrowly in late December 1994, the opposition resigned en masse from Parliament. The opposition then continued a campaign of marches, demonstrations, and strikes in an effort to force the government to resign.[3] The opposition, including the Awami League's Sheikh Hasina, Jatiya Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami pledged to boycott national elections scheduled for 15 February 1996.

Results

Incumbent Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's BNP was re-elected for the second term after a landslide victory, but in voting boycotted and denounced as unfair by the three main opposition parties. The voter turnout was the lowest in Bangladesh's parliamentary electoral history at only 21%.[1] Following the election, the President invited Zia to form a government, but this administration was short-lived, lasting only 12 days.[2]

PartyVotes%Seats
GeneralReservedTotal+/–
Bangladesh Nationalist Party27830308+140
Bangladesh Freedom Party1010
Independents10010+7
Vacant11011–
Total300303300
Total votes11,776,481–
Registered voters/turnout56,149,18220.97
Source: Nohlen et al., Kumar Panday

Aftermath

An immediate series of hartals (strikes) were called by the other parties and an indefinite non-cooperation movement was conducted until demands for a new, free election was met.[3] In March 1996, following escalating political turmoil, the sitting Parliament enacted the thirteenth Constitutional amendment installing a neutral caretaker government to assume power and conduct new parliamentary elections; former Chief Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman was named Chief Advisor (a position equivalent to prime minister) in the interim government. Zia's administration lasted only 12 days.[2] New parliamentary elections were scheduled for June 1996.

References

  1. ^ a b c Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I, p525 ISBN 0-19-924958-X
  2. ^ a b c "Tenure of All Parliaments". 12 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d Islam, Syed Serajul (2001). "Elections and politics in post-Ershad era in Bangladesh" (PDF). Asian and African Studies. 10 (1): 160–173. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
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