2001 Bangladeshi general election

1 October 2001
All 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad 151 seats needed for a majority
Registered	74,946,364
Turnout	74.97%
First party Second party   Leader Khaleda Zia Sheikh Hasina Party BNP AL Alliance Oikya Alliance Last election 33.61%, 116 seats 37.44%, 146 seats Seats won 193 62 Seat change 77 84 Popular vote 23,074,714 22,310,276 Percentage 40.97% 40.13% Swing 7.36pp 2.69pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader H.M. Ershad Motiur Rahman Nizami Party JP(E) Jamaat-e-Islami Alliance IJOF Oikya Alliance Last election 16.40%, 32 seats 8.61%, 3 seats Seats won 14 17 Seat change 18 14 Popular vote 4,038,453 23,85,361 Percentage 7.25% 4.28% Swing 9.15pp 4.32pp
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Latifur Rahman (acting) Caretaker government Subsequent Prime Minister Khaleda Zia BNP

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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 result was a win for the Four Party Alliance of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Jatiya Party (Manju) and Islami Oikya Jote. BNP leader Khaleda Zia became Prime Minister.

Background

The Seventh Parliament headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was dissolved on 13 July 2001,^[1] having completed its designated 5-year term (the first parliamentary administration to ever do so)^[2] and power was transferred to the caretaker government headed by Justice Latifur Rahman.

Electoral system

The 300 members of the Jatiya Sangsad were elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.^[3] The law providing for 30 seats reserved for women had expired prior to the elections.^[4]

Conduct

The international^[5] and national monitors declared the polling free and fair even though the Awami League alleged massive vote rigging by the BNP. The accusation was denied by the Chief Election Commissioner, who declared the charges "baseless".^[6] International observers, from the European Union, the United Nations and the Carter Center^[7] of former US President Jimmy Carter, also praised the heavy voter turnout, which was 75%.^[2]

Results

The BNP were the clear winners in terms of seats, winning a secure majority with 193 (of 300) seats. BNP's allied parties Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Jatiya Party (Manju) and Islami Oikya Jote also won a combined 23 seats, bringing the alliance total to 216 seats. As a result of the first-past-the-post voting system in Bangladesh, Awami League only secured 62 seats, despite a difference in popular vote share of only ≈1.4%. Voter turnout was very high at 75%.^[2]

Of the 300 seats, only seven were won by women.^[8]

Aftermath

There were reports of violence targeting minority Hindus in the immediate wake of the elections.^[9]

With a clear majority BNP leader Khaleda Zia was invited to form a government and on 10 October 2001, was sworn in as Prime Minister and formed her Cabinet, which included members of her allied parties. The first sitting of the Eighth Parliament occurred on 28 October 2001^[1] with Jamiruddin Sircar as its new Speaker.

In 2004 a constitutional amendment was passed, reinstating the reserved seats for women and increasing the number from 30 to 45. The seats were now allocated based on the proportion of seats won by each party rather then being elected by directly elected MPs. The reserved seats were to be allocated on 6 September 2005, but the Awami League refused to nominate candidates for the nine seats the party was entitled to in protest at the seats not being directly elected. On 2 October the nine vacant seats were reallocated, of which six went to the BNP. After the reallocation the BNP had 36 reserved seats, Islami Jatiya Oikya Front four, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami three and the Bangladesh Jatiya Party and Islami Oikya Jote one each.^[10][11][8]

Zia's administration completed a full five-year term, running from 28 October 2001 to 27 October 2006. However, disputes over the selection of a caretaker government, with disagreements between the parties over their neutrality, led to the 2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis, which eventually resulted in military intervention. New elections were not held until December 2008.

References