Country Profile:

Bangladesh - News Archive

Democracy returns in Bangladesh

Posted: 01/06/2009
Democratic rule returns to Bangladesh as Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina is sworn in as PM for a second time.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Bangladeshi party softens stance

Posted: 01/02/2009
The defeated party in Bangladesh's election has said its leader is willing to work with the victor Sheikh Hasina's Awami League.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Awami League Wins Landslide in Bangladeshi Elections

Posted: 01/01/2009
Bangladeshis went to the polls for the first time in seven years on Sunday and returned the Awami League to power with a landslide vote, following almost two years of military "emergency" rule. Preliminary results indicate that former Prime Minister Sheikh HASINA's Awami League won some 230 of the 300 seats in Bangladesh's Parliament. Allied parties won another 32 seats, giving the victorious "Grand Alliance" a three-fourths majority in Parliament. Former Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA, whose Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a two-thirds majority in the last Parliamentary elections in 2001, grudgingly conceded defeat with her party's worst-ever showing of just 29 seats. Newly elected members of parliament are expected to be sworn in over the weekend and return Sheikh HASINA to the Prime Minister’s office. Parliamentary elections were originally scheduled for January 22, 2007 but were cancelled just weeks prior to the vote. On January 11 2007, President Iajuddin AHMED, with backing from the country's military, cancelled the poll, declared emergency rule, and installed a caretaker government after months of political violence and turmoil between the competing political parties came to a head.

Source: ElectionGuide

Bangladesh election seen as fair, though loser disputes result

Posted: 12/31/2008
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won in a landslide, but her bitter rival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, charged that the two-thirds majority was the result of widespread voter fraud.

Read full story. Source: Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune

Bangladesh holds first vote in 2 years

Posted: 12/29/2008
After two years of army-backed emergency rule voters thronged the polls to choose their next government in a largely peaceful and in many places festive atmosphere.

Read full story. Source: Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune

Bangladesh awaits election result

Posted: 12/29/2008
Counting begins in Bangladesh as an election to replace its military-backed caretaker government passes off peacefully.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Bangladesh lifts emergency rule

Posted: 12/17/2008
Bangladesh's army-backed interim government lifts a two-year state of emergency ahead of 29 December polls.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Bangladesh Ends 23-Month State of Emergency Ahead of Elections

Posted: 12/16/2008
Bangladeshi President Iajuddin AHMED signed an order Tuesday which lifted the country's 23-month long state of emergency, thus ending the current caretaker government and clearing the way for parliamentary elections on December 29.  Under the state of emergency, most political activities were strictly banned. But Tuesday’s order freed political parties to begin campaigning openly, with just two weeks till Election Day. On January 11, 2007, President AHMED, with backing from the country's military, cancelled parliamentary elections scheduled for later that month and declared emergency rule after months of political violence and turmoil between the competing political parties came to a head. In a deal last month with political parties to hold new elections on December 29, the interim government promised to end the state of emergency ahead of Election Day.

Source: ElectionGuide

Bangladesh poll campaign begins

Posted: 12/12/2008
Campaigning begins in Bangladesh's general elections with the government lifting restrictions on political rallies.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Bangladesh's Parliamentary Poll Will (Finally) Take Place on December 29

Posted: 12/04/2008
Following a compromise between Bangladesh’s two largest parties, the country's election commission announced that it will hold the long and repeatedly delayed general elections on December 29, 2008. Former Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had wanted the elections delayed till January to allow it more time to prepare, while its rival Awami League argued that any delay would be unfair. Both parties agreed to the compromise date of December 29. Two weeks following the announcement, a mysterious fire in his Dhaka apartment early in the morning of December 3 claimed the life Nurul ISLAM, president of the left-leaning Ganotantri Party president and a candidate of the Awami League-led alliance in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Before succumbing to his injuries in a Dhaka hospital, ISLAM told the press he had been receiving death threats ever since he filed his nomination. Leaders of the 14-party Awami League-led alliance called the fire an act of sabotage and called for a criminal investigation of the incident. Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi Election Commission announced that it would postpone the election for the constituency for which ISLAM was a candidate until sometime next year. 

Source: ElectionGuide

Landmark Elections in Bangladesh Remain in Doubt

Posted: 11/20/2008
The prospects for Bangladesh's long-awaited parliamentary elections remain in doubt, after the government refused to meet the demands of the key Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The BNP had previously threatened to boycott the poll, the country's first democratic election in seven years, arguing that it and allied parties needed more time to prepare. However, BNP leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA announced her party would participate in the poll, provided that the election is pushed back ten days to December 28. One of the country's two principal political parties, the BNP won two-thirds of the seats in parliament in the last elections in 2001. Consequently, many might strongly question the legitimacy of this year's election were the BNP to boycott it. On Thursday, the government indicated that intended to hold elections as planned on December 18.  

Source: ElectionGuide

Ex-PM Hasina followers win Bangladesh local vote

Posted: 08/04/2008
DHAKA (Reuters) - Unofficial results from local elections in Bangladesh showed that followers of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina won almost all the positions in a free, fair and peaceful vote, poll officials said.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Bangladesh voters' lists 'ready'

Posted: 07/22/2008
Bangladesh's Election Commission says it has completed the registration of voters ahead of December's general elections.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Bangladesh Adopts New Electoral Rules

Posted: 07/15/2008
On Sunday, Bangladeshi authorities announced the adoption of new electoral rules, which it argues will pave the way to a free and fair vote before the end of the year. In particular, the new rules require political parties to register to take part in the elections and provide voters the option to reject all candidates on their ballot in the event they think that none are suitable. The previous rules allowed unregulated participation by political parties, which some parties abused as a way to dilute the vote of rival parties. The new rules also mandate that candidates contest only three seats simultaneously, down from five under previous rules. Other changes include a ban on political parties' operating separate student and/or labor fronts and overseas units, and a requirement for new elections to be held for any office for which more than 50 percent of voters reject all candidates on the ballot.

Source: ElectionGuide

Nearly 12,000 Are Arrested in Bangladesh

Posted: 06/04/2008
Political parties have denounced the roundup as a ploy to clamp down on political activity, as Bangladesh prepares for national elections in December.

Read full story. Source: NYT > International

Vote reform talks in Bangladesh

Posted: 09/12/2007
The army-backed authorities in Bangladesh begin talks with political parties on electoral law reforms.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Call for Bangladesh poll schedule

Posted: 04/04/2007
The US Ambassador to Bangladesh calls for a timetable for the restoration of democracy in the country.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Bangladesh poll officials resign

Posted: 01/31/2007
All five election commissioners in Bangladesh resign after months of protests over alleged vote-rigging.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Troops enforce Bangladesh order

Posted: 01/12/2007
Soldiers are enforcing a national state of emergency in Bangladesh imposed by the president.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Parliament elections indefinitely postponed

Posted: 01/12/2007
Following weeks of violent protests and resignation demands from the Awami League-led alliance, President Iajuddin AHMED stepped down on January 11 from his position as head of the interim caretaker government charged with overseeing national elections this month. Former central bank governor Fakhruddin AHMED was appointed as head of a new interim government which is to be formed in the next days. President AHMED also agreed to postpone the much controversial January 22 poll in order to allow for a revision of the voter list, one of the opposition's key demands. No new election date has been announced yet. 

Source: ElectionGuide

Clashes spread as blockade paralyzes Bangladesh

Posted: 01/08/2007
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's army chief was summoned to the presidential palace on Monday following a day of renewed clashes between police and political activists two weeks before parliamentary elections.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Bangladesh polls to go ahead despite Hasina boycott

Posted: 01/04/2007
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh will go ahead with planned parliamentary elections this month despite a decision by a mainstream political alliance to boycott it, election officials said on Thursday.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Poll boycott called in Bangladesh

Posted: 01/03/2007
Bangladesh's main opposition party and its allies say they will boycott the upcoming parliamentary election.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Uncertainty clouds Bangladesh poll participants

Posted: 12/27/2006
DHAKA (Reuters) - Participation of all major parties in Bangladesh's upcoming election was thrown into uncertainty on Wednesday after a key ally of strong contender Sheikh Hasina threatened to boycott the poll.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Clashes in Bangladeshi capital

Posted: 12/21/2006
Troops and riot police clash with protestors in the Bangladeshi capital demanding electoral reform.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Election date moved to January 23 2006

Posted: 12/07/2006
On December 7, the Election Commission of Bangladesh moved the date of the next parliamentary election from January 21 to January 23, 2007. Six days after the announcement, the two major parties, the Awami League and the former ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), demanded that the Election Commission change the new date as it coincides with a festival of the Hindu community. The Election Commission has said it will revise the date after consultations with both parties. The Bangladeshi constitution provides for general elections within 90 days from the dissolution of the Parliament which occurred on October 28, thus making January 25 the absolute deadline for new elections.

Source: ElectionGuide

Bangladesh in turmoil as election divides deepen

Posted: 12/06/2006
DHAKA (Reuters) - Hopes for an end to pre-election turmoil in Bangladesh dimmed on Wednesday as rival political groups again took to the streets and the country's legal system was virtually paralyzed by feuding lawyers.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Election Date announcement sparks more protests and violence in Bangladesh

Posted: 11/30/2006
On November 27, Bangladesh's election commission set January 21, 2007 as the date for the next general election. The Awami League party and its 14 party political alliance have rejected the announcement requesting a delay to the schedule until alleged biased election commission officials are removed from office and the voters' list is updated. Since late October, protests and violence have erupted throughout the country over the alliance's demand for electoral reform. One day after the announcement, a fire broke out in two election commission offices, raising suspicion that supporters of the Awami League-led alliance are to blame. On November 30, 40,000 protesters circled the presidential palace demanding President Iajuddin AHMED's resignation due to his failure to remove the controversial election commission officials.

Source: ElectionGuide

Bangladesh protesters set fire to election offices

Posted: 11/28/2006
DHAKA (Reuters) - Political activists set fire to two election commission offices in Bangladesh on Tuesday, as a 14-party alliance began a new campaign to force the ouster of top election officials.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Bangladesh poll date set, protesters near palace

Posted: 11/27/2006
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's election commission announced a date for parliamentary elections -- against the wishes of the opposition's political alliance, which accuses the panel of being biased.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Bangladesh may be close to ending political crisis

Posted: 11/21/2006
DHAKA (Reuters) - The political crisis gripping Bangladesh could soon be resolved, officials said on Tuesday, although one person was killed and almost 130 wounded in continuing clashes over demands to oust election officials.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Bangladeshi Parliament Votes to Increase Seats Reserved for Women

Posted: 05/17/2004
On May 16, the Bangladeshi parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) passed an amendment to the constitution which will increase the number of seats reserved for women representatives from 30 to 45.  The provision for 30 seats had lapsed in 2001 with no action taken up till now to extend this provision.  This new provision will increase the size of parliament from 300 to 345 seats.  The 45 seats for women will be distributed according to political parties' vote proportions in the last parliamentary election.  Opposition parties are opposed to this method of distribution of seats and have urged direct elections for these 45 seats.

Source: ElectionGuide

Bangladesh's Awami League Take Back Their Seats in Parliament

Posted: 06/24/2002
Members of the Awami League, the leading opposition party in Bangladesh, have taken their seats in parliament after boycotting the assembly for eight months following the October 2001 elections.  The Awami League had been soundly defeated by the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP) in the election, and had charged the BNP with fraud.

Source: ElectionGuide

Members of Bengali Opposition Party to Resign

Posted: 03/18/2002
The opposition Awami League announced that all 58 of its members of parliament will resign on March 14, 2002. The Awami League has charged that the ruling Bangladesh National Party (BNP) rigged the October 2001 parliamentary elections. International observers described the elections as free and fair.

Source: ElectionGuide

Bangladesh Announces Results of Parliamentary Elections

Posted: 10/05/2001
The Election Commission stated that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won 185 of the 283 declared seats after the October 1, 2001, parliamentary election. The outgoing prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League claimed 63 seats.

Source: ElectionGuide


Go to top