June 1996 Bangladeshi general election

June 1996 Bangladeshi general election

12 June 1996
All 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad 151 seats needed for a majority
Registered	56,716,935
Turnout	75.60% (54.63pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sheikh Hasina Khaleda Zia Hussain Muhammad Ershad Party Awami League BNP JP(E) Leader since 1981 1984 1986 Leader's seat Gopalganj-3 Feni-1 Rangpur-3 Last election Boycotted 278 seats Boycotted Seats won 146 116 32 Seat change 146 162 32 Popular vote 15,882,792 14,255,986 6,954,981 Percentage 37.44% 33.63% 16.40%
Prime Minister before election Khaleda Zia BNP Subsequent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Awami League

General elections were held in Bangladesh on 12 June 1996. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Awami League, which won 146 of the 300 seats, beginning Sheikh Hasina's first-term as Prime Minister. Voter turnout was 74.96%, the highest to date. This election was the second to be held in 1996, following controversial elections held in February a few months earlier.

Electoral system

In 1996, the 330 members of the Jatiya Sangsad consisted of 300 directly elected seats using first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies, and an additional 30 seats reserved for women. The reserved seats are distributed based on the election results. Each parliament sits for a five-year term.

Background

The June 1996 election marked the second general election to be held within only a four-month period. Previously in February, a general election had been held which was boycotted by all major opposition parties. The opposition were demanding the installation of a neutral caretaker government to oversee the election, citing a 1994 by-election (which they alleged to have been rigged) as evidence of the BNP's inability to hold a free and fair election. Despite the boycott the February election went ahead and the incumbent Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's BNP was re-elected for the second term in a landslide victory, with the majority of seats uncontested. The voting was denounced as unfair by the three main opposition parties and the voter turnout was the lowest in Bangladesh's parliamentary electoral history at only 21%.

Following the election, President Abdur Rahman Biswas invited Zia to form a government, but this administration was short-lived, lasting only 12 days. A series of hartals (strikes) were called by the other parties and an indefinite non-cooperation movement was called until demands for a new, free election was met. On 25 March 1996, following escalating political turmoil, the sitting Parliament enacted the thirteenth constitutional amendment to allow a neutral caretaker government to assume power and conduct new parliamentary elections. On 30 March the President appointed former Chief Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman as Chief Advisor (a position equivalent to prime minister) in the interim government. A new election was scheduled for 12 June 1996.

Campaign

During the election campaign there was an attempted coup d'état by the military. On 12 May, President Biswas fired General Abu Saleh Mohammad Nasim, Chief of the Staff of the Army, due to his refusal to carry out a presidential order to retire two of his generals who were alleged to be consorting with political parties in violation of military rules. Nasim revolted against the President and organised troops loyal to him. Consequently, President Biswas dismissed Nasim and appointed a new chief of staff. Troops loyal to the President were mobilised to protect Government institutions in the capital and Nasim was arrested by military police and the attempted coup d'état failed.

A total of 2,574 candidates contested the elections. The Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh all put forward full slates of 300 candidates. The Jatiya Party ran 293 candidate, Islami Oikkya Jote 166 and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab) 67, with other minor parties nominating a combined 864 candidates. 284 candidates ran as independents.

Results

The elections were won by the Bangladesh Awami League, who were just shy of a simple parliamentary majority, winning 146 (of the required 151 for a majority) seats. The election was close in terms of popular vote share between Awami League and BNP, with a difference of less than 4%. However, as a result of first-past-the-post voting, Awami League secured a 30-seat lead above BNP. The election saw a high voter turnout of ~74%.

With the support of Jatiya Party, the leader of Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, was invited to form a government on 23 June, beginning her first term as Prime Minister. The first sitting of the seventh parliament of Bangladesh was subsequently held on 14 July 1996.

Of the 300 directly elected seats, only eight were won by female candidates. An additional 30 seats were reserved in the Jatiya Sangsad for women, of which 27 were awarded to Awami League.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Awami League	15,882,792	37.44	146	New
	Bangladesh Nationalist Party	14,255,986	33.61	116	–184
	Jatiya Party	6,954,981	16.40	32	New
	Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami	3,653,013	8.61	3	New
	Islami Oikya Jote	461,517	1.09	1	New
	Jaker Party	167,597	0.40	0	New
	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab)	97,916	0.23	1	New
	Workers Party of Bangladesh	56,404	0.13	0	New
	Gano Forum	54,250	0.13	0	New
	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu)	50,944	0.12	0	New
	Communist Party of Bangladesh	48,549	0.11	0	New
	Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh	45,585	0.11	0	New
	Sammilita Sangram Parishad	40,803	0.10	0	New
	Bangladesh Freedom Party	38,974	0.09	0	New
	Samridhya Bangladesh Andolon	27,083	0.06	0	New
	Bangladesh Islami Front	23,696	0.06	0	New
	Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan	18,397	0.04	0	New
	Bangladesh Jatiyabadi Awami League	11,190	0.03	0	New
	Islami Shasantantra Andolon	11,159	0.03	0	New
	Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (Khalekuzzaman)	10,234	0.02	0	New
	Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Mahbub)	6,791	0.02	0	New
	Bangladesh National Awami Party (NAP Bashani)	5,948	0.01	0	New
	Bangladesh Muslim League (Jamir Ali)	4,580	0.01	0	New
	Ganotantri Party	4,114	0.01	0	New
	Bangladesh National Awami Party (NAP)	3,620	0.01	0	New
	Democratic Republican Party	3,605	0.01	0	New
	Bangladesh Janata Party	3,364	0.01	0	New
	Jatiya Janata Party (Nurul Islam)	2,986	0.01	0	New
	Jatiya Janata Party (Sheikh Asad)	2,395	0.01	0	New
	Social Democratic Party	1,938	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Gano Azadi League	1,683	0.00	0	New
	Progotisil Jatiata Badi Dal	1,515	0.00	0	New
	Hak Kathar Mancha	1,340	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal (Marxist-Leninst)	1,148	0.00	0	New
	Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal	964	0.00	0	New
	Communist Kendra	888	0.00	0	New
	Jatiya Biplobi Front	631	0.00	0	New
	Saat Dalya Jote (Mirpur)	602	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Hindu League	570	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Peoples Party	558	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Bekar Samaj	548	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Tafsil Jati Federation (S.K. Mandal)	537	0.00	0	New
	Desh Prem Party	532	0.00	0	New
	Ganotantrik Sarbahara Party	502	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Jatiya League (Sobhan)	418	0.00	0	New
	Jana Dal	395	0.00	0	New
	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Mahiuddin)	393	0.00	0	New
	Jatiya Seba Dal	365	0.00	0	New
	National Democratic Party	353	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Krisak Sramik Janata Party	294	0.00	0	New
	Islami Al Zihad Dal	288	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Sarbahara Party	248	0.00	0	New
	Jatiya Daridra Party	244	0.00	0	New
	Sramajibi Oikya Forum	229	0.00	0	New
	Islamic Dal Bangladesh (Saifur)	221	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh People's League	213	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Samajtantrik Samsad (Darshan Shava)	209	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Mukti Andolon	189	0.00	0	New
	Gano Oikkya Front (Guff)	186	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Mehanati Front	173	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Tafsili Federation (Sudir)	150	0.00	0	New
	People's Muslim League	140	0.00	0	New
	National Awami Party (NAP Bhashani)	138	0.00	0	New
	Quran Dorshion Sangshta Bangladesh	137	0.00	0	New
	Progatishil Gonotantrik Shakti	134	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Islami Party	132	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Jatiya Agragati Party	131	0.00	0	New
	Oikya Prokria	112	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Bashani Adarsha Bastabayan Parishad	107	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Bastuhara Parishad	105	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh National Congress	99	0.00	0	New
	Quran Sunna Bastabayan Party	82	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Tanjimul Muslimin	81	0.00	0	New
	Samridhya Bangladesh Babosai Samproday	48	0.00	0	New
	Bashani Front	45	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Krishak Raj Islami Party	33	0.00	0	New
	National Patriotic Party	31	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Islami Biplobi Parishad	29	0.00	0	New
	Taherikay Olama-e-Bangladesh	29	0.00	0	New
	United People's Party	26	0.00	0	New
	Bangladesh Manabodjikar Dal	20	0.00	0	New
	Independents	449,618	1.06	1	New
Total		42,418,274	100.00	300	0
Valid votes		42,418,274	98.92
Invalid/blank votes		462,302	1.08
Total votes		42,880,576	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		56,716,935	75.60
Source: Bangladesh Election Commission

Aftermath

Hasina's administration completed its full five-year term (the first parliamentary administration to ever do so) and the next elections were held in October 2001.