| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Jatiya Sangsad / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
1 October 2001 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Some 2,000 candidates ran in the general elections that were held on 1 October 2001. About half of the candidates contested the polls on an independent basis, while the rest were supporters of two former Prime Ministers who also stood for election, Sheik Hasina, leader of the Awami League, and Begum Khaleda Zia, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The personal feud between these two women has dominated Bangladeshi politics in recent years.
Ms Hasina's government, that was dissolved on 15 July 2001 to pave the way for the parliamentary elections, was the first in the country's history to complete its full term in office, first as a minority government supported by smaller parties and then as a majority one, thanks to by-elections and the appointment of her supporters to 27 of the 30 reserved seats for women.
During the full term of the Awami League government, Ms. Khaleda Zia's BNP boycotted Parliament for long periods and organised general strikes and street demonstrations against the government.
In the run-up to the elections, there were violent clashes between supporters of the BNP and the Awami League. Police declared that almost 230 people were killed and more than 1,500 injured in political violence since the caretaker government, led by Mr Latif-ur-Rahman, took office in mid-July 2001.
The results of the parliamentary elections showed that the BNP, which had formed an alliance with three other (Islamic) parties, had won 193 of 300 seats, while the outgoing Awami League had won 62, the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh 18, and the National Party (Ershad) 14. Turnout was near 75%.
The international 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". 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.
On 10 October 2001, Ms. Khaleda Zia was sworn in as Prime Minister. Her Cabinet, comprising members of four parties, was also sworn that same day.
On 30 October 2001, Parliament opened its 8th term and elected Mr Jamiruddin Sircar as its new Speaker. The MPs from the Awami League refused to take the oath.
|
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 1 October 2001 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
74'660'443
55'905'518 (74.88%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Bangladesh National Party (BNP) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Awami League |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Jamaat-e-Islami |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Jatiya Party |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Others |
|
|
|
|
|
|
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| Independents |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| Bangladesh National Party (BNP) |
193
|
|
|
|
|
| Awami League |
62
|
|
|
|
|
| Jamaat-e-Islami |
17
|
|
|
|
|
| Jatiya Party |
14
|
|
|
|
|
| Others |
8
|
|
|
|
|
| Independents |
6
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
294
6
2.00%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
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|
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| Distribution of seats according to profession |
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| Comments |
The parliament was dissolved on 27 October 2006 in view of elections due to take place on 21 January 2007.
Source: Bangladesh Election Commission (http://www.bd-ec.org)
- Following constitutional amendments in 2004, the statutory number has been increased from 300 to 345.
- 45 seats of the enlarged parliament are reserved for women, selected in proportion to each party's support at the 2001 election.
- 36 of 45 women MPs were selected on 6 September 2005.
- Awami League, for which nine seats are reserved, did nominate candidates insisting that new women MPs should be directly elected.
- On 2 October 2005, nine additional women were appointed by the BNP (six women) and other three parties, bringing the total number of the parliament to 345. |
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A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page