A TRAJECTORY OF BANGLADESH S ELECTORAL POLITICS

A TRAJECTORY OF BANGLADESH’S ELECTORAL POLITICS By Bhavya Raj Joshi and Namita Rajesh Introduction For most of its history, the territory that is tod...
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A TRAJECTORY OF BANGLADESH’S ELECTORAL POLITICS By Bhavya Raj Joshi and Namita Rajesh

Introduction For most of its history, the territory that is today Bangladesh was governed as the eastern part of a larger Bengal, which included much of the present-day Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Rising British trading influence from the early 17th century culminated in the defeat of Mughal forces at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and the imposition of British rule in Bengal. Upon the departure of the British in 1947, Bengal was split, with Muslim-majority areas forming East Pakistan and the remainder being incorporated into India. Pakistan itself was divided into East and West Pakistan, separated by miles of Indian territory. Relations between East and West Pakistan quickly soured and Bengali nationalist sentiment hardened through the 1960s. In 1970, the Awami League, campaigning on a six-point platform for East Pakistan’s autonomy, won a majority of the 300 seats in a national constituent assembly tasked with writing a new constitution for Pakistan. Opposing the Awami League’s plan to turn Pakistan into a loose federation, President Yahya Khan refused to allow the assembly to sit, sparking riots in East Pakistan. On March 25, 1971, Yahya launched a bloody crackdown on East Pakistani dissidents, which was met by outright rebellion. Following a guerilla war and a decisive military intervention by India, East Pakistan gained its independence on December 16, 1971 and became Bangladesh.

Post Independence In January 1972 Mujibur Rahman was installed as the first prime minister of the new parliamentary government of Bangladesh, and Abu Sayeef Choudhury became president. As Bangladeshi retribution against pro-Pakistani forces ensued, Urdu speakers—known as Biharis, though most had been born locally rather than in Bihar — fled into enclaves where their numbers gave some security; nevertheless, many were killed. Hundreds of thousands of Biharis were placed in overcrowded refugee camps, where decades later many still awaited asylum in Pakistan.

TWO PARTY CONTEST IN BANGLADESH Ideally, Politics in Bangladesh takes pace in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of the government, and of a multi-party system. Though, mainly what is witnessed is a two party contest between the Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which are considered to be the two prime parties.

Awami League



From its founding in 1949, the Awami League (the oldest and biggest party) was the expression of Bengali nationalism in the territory then known as East Pakistan. Following elections in December 1970, which the league won, the military ruler of Pakistan canceled the National Assembly. Opposition to this by the Awami League led to the creation of a national flag for the Bengali homeland, Bangladesh. With a golden past and grand present, Awami League represents the mainstream of the progressive, non-communal, democratic and nationalist politics of Bangladesh. The party boasts of a glorious past featuring relentless and uncompromising struggles against autocracy and communalism, against political and economic domination. Political Ideology : The fundamental principles of the Bangladesh Awami League is Bengali Nationalism, Democracy, Secularism or in other words ensuring freedom of all religions as well as non-communal politics and Socialism, that is to say-the establishment of an exploitation-free society and social justice.





Bangladesh Nationalist Party 

Founded in 1978 by Major General Zia-ur Rahman, the Seventh President of Bangladesh. It was established to provide the political platform for President Zia after his assumption of power during Bangladesh’s volatile period of martial law from 1975 till 1979. The BNP accommodates not just Zia’a supporters, but also those traditionally opposed to its principal rival, the Awami League.



Ideologically, the party has professed Bangladeshi Nationalism, described as the Islamic consciousness of the people of Muslim majority Bangladesh, in order to counter the secular Awami League.



Political Ideology: BNP promotes a very center-right policy combining elements of conservatism, corporatism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism and anti-communism. The party believes that Islam is an integral part of the socio-cultural life of Bangladesh, and favours Islamic principles as well as cultural views.

BANGLADESH POLITICS: FORMING OF GOVERNMENTS

1973-1975: Elections and the Mujib Government Elections in 1973 granted the Awami League and its leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (“Mujib”), an electoral mandate. Prices escalated, scarcities continued, and in 1974 a great famine claimed tens of thousands of lives. Faced with crisis, Mujib declared a state of emergency in December 1974 and suspended multiparty democracy. On August 15, 1975, a group of army majors assassinated Mujib and much of his family. Four months later, after the second of two coups within four days, General Zia ur Rahman (“Zia”) emerged as the dominant figure.

1975-1981: Maj.Gen.Zia ur Rahman

In an effort to legitimise his power, he held a referendum in May 1977, received a vote of confidence, and assumed the office of president in 1978. After ensuring his control over the armed forces, Zia lifted martial law the following year. He strengthened the military, empowered the bureaucracy, and improved law and order while emphasising food production, irrigation, primary education, and rural development. Nevertheless, military coup attempts continued, and on May 30, 1981, he was assassinated in Chittagong by some army officers.

1982-1990: Lt.Gen.Hussein Mohammad Ershad On March 24, 1982, Lt.Gen.Hussein Mohammad Ershad ejected Vice-President Abdus Sattar and took over as chief martial-law administrator. In December 1983 he assumed the office of president. To validate his authority he called elections for a National Assembly, and he formed his own National Party (Jatiya Party), which in the election of May 1986, won most of the seats in the legislature. The poor state of the country’s economy coupled with weeks of violent anti-government demonstrations, finally made Ershad step down in December 1990. A caretaker government, headed by Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, was chosen by the opposition parties.

1991-1996: Election and Khaleda Zia’s Government The BNP, led by Khaleda Zia, the wife of deceased General Zia ur Rahman, was victorious in the 1991 polls. The BNP won 140 of 300 seats against the 100 obtained by the AL-led eight-party alliance. Domestic and international observers reported that the polls were largely peaceful and free of major irregularities, and the results were accepted by all parties. Round No. 1 (27 February 1991) : Election Results 62,289,556 (approx Voters 52%) Round No.1 Distribution of Seats Political Group Total Bangladesh National Party 169 Awami League 92 Jatiya Party 35 Jamat-e-Islami 18 Bangladesh Communist Party 5 Others 9 Independents 2

(Source - Election Commission of Bangladesh) The major achievement for this government was the Twelfth Constitutional Amendment wherein the parliamentary form of government was re-introduced, the President became the constitutional head of the state and the Prime Minister became the head of the executive.

1996-2001: Election and Sheikh Hasina’s Government

Elections were held in June 1996, following Khaleda’s resignation after the February election was declared invalid. The opposition swept to power, and Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Mujib-ur Rahman, became the Prime Minister. Round No. 1 (12 June 1996) : Election Results Number of Registered electors 56,000,000 (approx) Voters 74% (approx) Round No.1 Distribution of Seats Political Group Total Awami League 146 Bangladesh National Party 116 Jatiya Dal 32 Jamaat-e-Islami 3 Others 3

(Source - Election Commission of Bangladesh) Despite the monsoon of 1998 that left more than 30 million people homeless, the government made progress in its relations with India, signing a treaty for sharing water from the Ganges River; it negotiated an agreement (opposed by the BNP) for guerrillas seeking greater autonomy for the indigenous population in the Chittagong Hill Tracts to surrender their arms after a 20-year insurgency; and the economy (particularly agriculture) showed some signs of improvement.

2001-2006: Election and Khaleda Zia’s Government International and most domestic observers pronounced the 2001 parliamentary elections, in which a fourparty coalition led by the BNP took more than two-thirds of the seats, as reasonably free, fair and peaceful. Round No.1 (2001) : Distribution of Seats Political Group Bangladesh National Party Awami League Jamaat-e-Islami Jatiya Party Others Independents (Source – Election Commission of Bangladesh)

Total 193 62 17 14 8 6

Sheikh Hasina condemned the election, rejected the results, and boycotted Parliament. For the rest of the term, the Awami League continued a pattern of boycott and subsequent return to the legislature.

No. of Voters

Date of Poll 7 Mar 1973

% % No. of No. of No. of Votes invalid Polling Polling Polling Cast votes Stations Booths Officials

Male

Female

Total

N/A

N/A

3,52,05,642

55.61

1.36

15,084

59,113

1,92,423

28 Feb 1979

2,00,34,717

1,83,29,141 3,83,638,58

51.29

1.05

21,905

67,150

2,23,355

7 May 1986

2,52,24,385

2,26,52,594 4,78,76,979

66.31

0.79

23,279

89,816

2,92,727

3 Mar 1988

2,63,79,944

2,34,83,885 4,98,63,829

51.81

-

-

-

2,83,237

27 Feb 1991

3,30,40,757

2,91,40,986 6,21,81,743

55.45

0.60

24,154

11,277

3,60,985

15 Feb 1996

2,37,65,752

2,32,38,204 5,61,49,182

26.54

0.22

21,106

98,710

3,14,480

12 Jun 1996

2,87,59,994

2,79,56,941 5,67,16,935

74.96

0.82

25,957

1,14,749

3,70,204

01 Oct 2001

3,86,84,972

3,63,15,684 7,50,00,656

75.59

0.80

29,978

1,49,288

4,77,842

(Organization of the elections) (Source – Election Commission of Bangladesh) 2006-2008: Crisis and Emergency Zia stepped down as prime minister in late 2006, transferring power to a caretaker government (CTG) until elections could be held early the following year. When retired justice Hasan declined to head the CTG in October 2006 President Ahmed appointed himself as Chief Advisor. Inter-party violence mounted through December 2006 and into the New Year. On January 3, 2007, the opposition announced that it would not participate in the elections and began a series of street actions to prevent them from taking place at all. On January 11, 2007, President Ahmed declared a state of emergency, indefinitely postponed the elections, and announced his resignation from the post of chief advisor. The new caretaker government embarked on an aggressive programme to rid the country of corruption prior to holding elections, which were scheduled for the end of 2008.

2008-2014: Election and the Sheikh Hasina Government The Awami League prevailed in the elections held in late December, and in January 2009 Hasina again became prime minister. ALLIANCE Grand Alliance

Four Alliance

PARTY Bangladesh Awami League Jatiya Party Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal Workers Party of Bangladesh

VOTES 33,887,451 4,867,377 429,773 214,440

% 49.00% 7.00% 0.60% 0.30%

SEATS 230 27 3 2

CHANGE 168 16 2 1

Bangladesh Nationalist Party Bangladesh Jamaat - e - Islami

22,963,836 3,186,384

33.20% 4.60%

30 2

-163 -15

Party

Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) Liberal Democratic Party Independent and Others TOTAL

95,158 161,372 3,366,858 69,172,649

0.10% 0.20% 4.90% 99.99%

1 1 4 300

-4 0 -2

(Source – National Democratic Institute, Bangladesh) 2014 - Violent Elections and Sheikh Hasina’s Government After the most violent General Elections held in the history of Bangladesh on 5 January 2014, Sheikh Hasina was sworn in for her second straight term as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister on 12 January 2014. The Awami League was poised to win a violence- plagued parliamentary election whose outcome was never in doubt, after a boycott by the main opposition party. The opposition, led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) head Khaleda, said her party will not participate unless an interim government is installed and Hasina steps down. With the BNP's boycott, more than half of the 300 parliament seats went uncontested. The Awami League won 232 of the 300 seats in Bangladesh’s new parliament, where about half of the victors went unopposed. 154 seats went uncontested and result of 137 seats was released out of 146. The Awami League won 105 seats, Jatiya Party won 13 seats, Workers Party won 4, Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal won 2 and Tanikat Federation and Bangladesh Nationalist Party won 1 seat each. Remaining constituency elections were suspended due to violence and re-election to be held. The average voter turnout was 22% which steeped down from 87% in the last general elections. The crisis had spilled onto the streets, where people were shot, beaten or even burned to death, daily, in clashes between rival groups and police. More than 200 people died in political violence in 2013, half of them since November 25, when the Election Commission announced a date for the vote. On the day of the election, at least 18 people died, more than 100 polling centres were set on fire and 440 polling places were closed early due to security concerns. Rolling general strikes staged by the opposition and blockades of roads, rail lines and waterways also affected the $22 billion garment industry, which supplies some of the world's top retailers, employs four million people and accounts for 80 percent of the country's export earnings.

SOURCES CITED: Awami League (official website) Bangladesh Nationalist Party (official website) Bangladesh Nationalist Party – Constitution (official website) The Encyclopedia Britannica Reuters The New York Times The National Democratic Institute, Bangladesh Election Commission of Bangladesh

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