General elections were held in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

on 15 February 1996. They were boycotted by most opposition parties, and saw voter turnout drop to just 21%. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I'', p525 The result was a victory for the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the major ...

(BNP), which won 278 of the 300 elected seats. This administration was short-lived, however, only lasting 12 days 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 Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

-led opposition claimed the BNP government had rigged, led to an indefinite boycott of Parliament by the entire opposition. 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. Efforts to mediate the dispute, under the auspices of the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

, 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

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

s in an effort to force the government to resign. The opposition, including the Awami League's

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh since January 2 ...

, Jatiya Party and

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...

pledged to boycott national elections scheduled for 15 February 1996.

Results

Incumbent Prime Minister

Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) 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 Ba ...

'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%. Following the election, the President invited Zia to form a government, but this administration was short-lived, lasting only 12 days.

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. 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 Muhammad Habibur Rahman (3 December 1928 – 11 January 2014) was a Chief Justice of Bangladesh Supreme Court in 1995. He was the Chief Adviser of the 1996 caretaker government which oversaw the Seventh parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. H ...

was named Chief Advisor (a position equivalent to prime minister) in the interim government. Zia's administration lasted only 12 days. New parliamentary elections were scheduled for June 1996.

References

{{Bangladeshi elections

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

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