1991 Bangladeshi general election

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.[1]

1991 Bangladeshi general election

← 1988 27 February 1991 February 1996 →

300 of the 330 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad
151 seats needed for a majority
Registered62,181,743
Turnout55.45% (Increase 2.97pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Khaleda Zia Sheikh Hasina H.M. Ershad
Party BNP AL JP(E)
Last election Boycotted Boycotted 251 seats
Seats won 140 88 35
Seat change New New Decrease 216
Popular vote 10,507,549 10,259,866 4,063,537
Percentage 30.81% 30.08% 11.92%

Prime Minister before election

Post vacant
(President Shahabuddin Ahmed led a caretaker government)

Prime Minister after election

Khaleda Zia
BNP

The elections were described to be free and fair by many international observers, and it played a major role in solidifying Bangladeshi democracy in aftermath of the anti-government protests in late 1980s. Voter turnout was 55.4%.[2][3]

The election was disproportionate, with the BNP winning 52 more seats than the Awami League, despite their popular vote total differing by less than one percentage point.

Background

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In 1990 a mass uprising led by future Prime Ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina deposed the former Army Chief Hussain Muhammad Ershad from power in December.[4] Ershad had assumed the presidency in 1983[5] following a coup d'état in 1982.

The previous general elections had been held in 1988 and saw Ershad's Jatiya Party win 251 of the 300 seats.[2] However, the elections had been boycotted by all major opposition parties and were described by one Western diplomat as "a mockery of an election".[6] On 6 December 1990, the day of Ershad's resignation, parliament was dissolved[7][4] and new elections were scheduled for 2 March 1991, but subsequently advanced to 27 February, with all major political parties participating.

Electoral system

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The 330 members of the Jatiya Sangsad consisted of 300 directly elected seats using first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies,[8] and an additional 30 seats reserved for women. The reserved seats were elected by the directly elected members.[9] Each parliament sits for a five-year term.

Results

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The elections saw the BNP win 140 of the 300 directly elected seats, 11 short of a parliamentary majority. The BNP's primary rivals, the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, won only 88 seats. However, there was little difference between the two main parties in terms of the popular vote share, with BNP only receiving around 250,000 votes more than the Awami League.[2]

Of the directly elected 300 seats, only four were won by female candidates.[1][10] Following the elections, the BNP won 28 of the 30 reserved seats for women.[1]

PartyVotes%Seats
GeneralReservedTotal+/–
Bangladesh Nationalist Party10,507,54930.8114028168New
Awami League10,259,86630.0888088New
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami4,136,66112.1318220New
Jatiya Party4,063,53711.9235035–216
Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League616,0141.81505New
Zaker Party417,7371.22000New
Communist Party of Bangladesh407,5151.19505New
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab)269,4510.79000New
Islami Oikya Jote269,4340.79101New
National Awami Party (Muzaffar)259,9780.76101New
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu)171,0110.50000New
Ganatantri Party152,5290.45101New
National Democratic Party121,9180.36101New
Bangladesh Janata Dal120,7290.35000New
United Communist League of Bangladesh110,5170.32000New
Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan93,0490.270000
Bangladesh Freedom Party90,7810.27000–2
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Siraj)84,2760.25101–2
Bangladesh Muslim League (Ainuddin)66,5650.20000New
Workers Party of Bangladesh63,4340.19101New
Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Khaliquzzaman)34,8680.10000New
Bangladesh Muslim League (Kader)32,6930.10000New
Janata Mukti Party30,9620.09000New
Jatiya Ganotantrik Party24,7610.07000New
Bangladesh Inquilab Party24,3100.07000New
Jatiya Oikkya Front21,6240.06000New
Jatiya Janata Party–Ganatantrik Oikkya Jote20,5680.06000New
Jomiyatay Wulamayya Islami Party15,0730.04000New
Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Mahbub)13,4130.04000New
Bangladesh Hindu League11,9410.04000New
Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal (Marxist-Leninist)11,2750.03000New
Oikkya Prakriyya11,0740.03000New
Bangladesh Muslim League (Matin)11,0730.03000New
National Awami Party (Bhashani)9,1290.03000New
Pragotishil Jatiyatabadi Dal6,6770.02000New
Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal6,3960.02000New
Jatiya Biplobi Front3,6710.01000New
Pragotishil Ganatantrik Sakt3,5980.01000New
Jatiya Janata Party (Ashraf)3,1870.01000New
Bangladesh Jatiya Tanti Dal3,1150.01000New
Bangladesh Muslim League (Yusuf)2,7570.01000New
Jatiya Jukta Front2,6680.01000New
Jatiya Janata Party (Asad)1,5700.00000New
Bangladesh National Congress1,4210.00000New
Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Chhashi Dal1,3170.00000New
Gano Azadi League (Samad)1,3140.00000New
Janasakti Party1,2630.00000New
Bangladesh Nezam-e-Islam Party1,2360.00000New
Islamic Samajtantrik Dal Bangladesh1,0390.00000New
Bangladesh Freedom League1,0340.00000New
Peoples Democratic Party8790.00000New
Bangladesh People's League (Goariobi Newaz)7420.00000New
Jatiya Mukti Dal7230.00000New
Bangladesh Jana Parishad6860.00000New
Muslim Peoples Party5150.00000New
Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Mukti Andolan5030.00000New
Bangladesh National Hindu Party5020.00000New
Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal4960.00000New
Democratic League4530.00000New
Humanitarian Organization for the Prevention of Smoking and Drug Abuse4530.00000New
Jatiya Tarun Sangha4170.00000New
Bangladesh Labour Party3180.00000New
Bangladesh Manobatabadi Dal2940.00000New
Ideal Party2510.00000New
National Awami Party (Sadequr Rahman)2480.00000New
Bangladesh Khilafat Party2410.00000New
Bangladesh Islamic Biplobi Parishad2140.00000New
Bangladesh Islami Front2020.00000New
Bangladesh Bekar Samaj1820.00000New
Bangladesh Adarsha Krishak Dal1540.00000New
Bangladesh Islamic Revolutionary Party1380.00000New
Bangladesh Bekar Party390.00000New
Jatiya Sramajibi Party280.00000New
National Awami Party (Nur Mohammad Kazi)270.00000New
Bangladesh Jatiya People's Party250.00000New
Independents1,497,3694.39303–22
Total34,103,677100.0030030330+30
Valid votes34,103,67798.92
Invalid/blank votes374,0261.08
Total votes34,477,703100.00
Registered voters/turnout62,181,74355.45
Source: Nohlen et al., Bangladesh Election Commission, Kumar Panday

Aftermath

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In September 1991 a constitutional referendum was held, which sought the transfer of executive powers from the President to the Prime Minister, making the presidency largely a ceremonial role. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of the constitutional amendments and the country returned to being a parliamentary democracy in line with its founding constitution.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "BANGLADESH: parliamentary elections Jatiya Sangsad, 1991". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann (2001). Elections in Asia: A data handbook. Vol. I. p. 537. ISBN 0-19-924958-X.
  3. ^ Bangladesh Election Commission (1991). "Report on election activities: Jatiya Sangsad Elections, 1991 (in Bengali)" (PDF). Government Printing Press. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b "WORLD: Ershad Resigns in Bangladesh". Los Angeles Times. 6 December 1990.
  5. ^ "Bangladesh Leader in Military Regime Assumes Presidency". The New York Times. 12 December 1983.
  6. ^ "Ruling Party Is Declared the Winner in Bangladesh". The New York Times. 6 March 1988.
  7. ^ "Tenure of All Parliaments". Parliament of Bangladesh. 30 December 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  8. ^ Electoral system Inter-Parliamentary Union
  9. ^ Nizam Ahmed and Sadik Hasan Alangkar or Ahangkar? Reserved-Seat Women Members in the Bangladesh Parliament Archived 2020-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Kumar Panday, Pranab (1 September 2008). "Representation without Participation: Quotas for Women in Bangladesh". International Political Science Review. 29 (4): 489–512. doi:10.1177/0192512108095724. S2CID 220874021.