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2001 Bangladeshi general election

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2001 Bangladeshi general election

← June 1996 1 October 2001 2008 →

All 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad
151 seats needed for a majority
Registered74,946,364
Turnout74.97% (Decrease 0.63pp)
  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 Increase 77 Decrease 84
Popular vote 23,074,714 22,310,276
Percentage 40.97% 40.13%
Swing Increase 7.36pp Increase 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 Decrease 18 Increase 14
Popular vote 4,038,453 2,385,361
Percentage 7.25% 4.28%
Swing Decrease 9.15pp Decrease 4.32pp

Results by constituency

Chief Adviser before election

Latifur Rahman
Independent (caretaker government)

Prime Minister

Khaleda Zia
BNP

This article is part of a series on the
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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 victory 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, having completed its designated 5-year term (the first parliamentary administration to ever do so) 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. The law providing for 30 seats reserved for women had expired prior to the elections.

Conduct

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

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%.

Of the 300 seats, only seven were won by women.

The results were highly disproportionate, with the BNP winning 131 more seats than the Awami League despite their popular vote total differing by less than one percentage point.

PartyVotes%Seats
Bangladesh Nationalist Party22,833,97840.97193
Awami League22,365,51640.1362
Islami Jatiya Oikya Front4,038,4537.2514
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami2,385,3614.2817
Bangladesh Jatiya Party621,7721.124
Islami Oikya Jote376,3430.682
Krishak Sramik Janata League261,3440.471
Jatiya Party (Manju)243,6170.441
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal119,3820.210
Communist Party of Bangladesh56,9910.100
Workers Party of Bangladesh40,4840.070
Bangladesh Islami Front30,7610.060
BASAD–Khalekuzzaman21,1640.040
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh19,2560.030
Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan13,4720.020
Gano Forum8,4940.020
Islami Shasantantra Andolon5,9440.010
Liberal Party Bangladesh3,9760.010
National Awami Party (NAP)3,8010.010
Bangladesh Progressive Party3,7340.010
Ganatantri Party3,1900.010
Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal2,3080.000
Bangladesh Janata Party1,7030.000
Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Mukti Andolon1,2480.000
Zaker Party1,1810.000
Bangladesh Peoples Congress1,1550.000
Communist Kendra1,0420.000
Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist–Leninist)9720.000
Bangladesh Hindu League9220.000
Gano Azadi League7800.000
Jatiyo Janata Party (Adv. Nurul Islam Khan)6570.000
Bangladesh Muslim League (Jamir Ali)5820.000
National Patriotic Party5510.000
National Awami Party (Bhashani)4420.000
Bangladesh Jatiya Tanti Dal4410.000
Samridha Bangladesh Andolon4290.000
Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal3910.000
Bangladesh Peoples Party3820.000
Desh Prem Party3660.000
Democratic Republican Party3640.000
Bangladesh Manabadhikar Dal2370.000
Bangladesh Krisak Sramik Janata Party1970.000
Liberal Democrats Party1700.000
Quran Darshan Sangstha Bangladesh1610.000
Jatiya Janata Party (Sheik Asad)1480.000
Pragatishil Ganotantrik Shakti1360.000
Sama-Samaj Ganotantri Party1310.000
National Awami Party (NAP-Bhashani Mushtaq)790.000
Quran and Sunnah Bastabayan Party770.000
Bhashani Front760.000
Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League590.000
Bangladesh Bhashani Adarsha Bastabayan Parishad580.000
Bangladesh Sarbahara Party440.000
Jatiya Janata Party (Hafizur)300.000
Independents2,262,0734.066
Total55,736,625100.00300
Valid votes55,736,62599.20
Invalid/blank votes449,0820.80
Total votes56,185,707100.00
Registered voters/turnout74,946,36474.97
Source: ECB

Aftermath

There were reports of violence targeting minority Hindus in the immediate wake of the elections.

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 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 than 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.

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

  1. ^ "Tenure of All Parliaments". Bangladesh Parliament. 12 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  2. ^ "IPU PARLINE database: BANGLADESH (Jatiya Sangsad), Elections in 2001". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  3. Electoral system IPU
  4. "Are reserved seats in the parliament sufficient for women's empowerment?". Dhaka Tribune. 12 January 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  5. "Bangladesh parliamentary Elections 1 October 2001: Final Report" (PDF). EU Election Observation Mission. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  6. "Zia wins power in Bangladesh". CNN. 5 October 2001. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  7. "Postelection Statement by Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Bangladesh Elections, Oct. 5, 2001". Carter Center. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. "2001 violence on Hindus: Caretakers, BNP, Jamaat blamed". bdnews24. 24 April 2011.
  10. Ahmed, Nizam; Hasan, Sadik (2018). "Alangkar or Ahangkar? Reserved-Seat Women Members in the Bangladesh Parliament" (PDF). In Ahmed, Nizam (ed.). Women in Governing Institutions in South Asia. Springer. p. 18. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57475-2_2. ISBN 978-3-319-57474-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  11. "Elections in 2001". Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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