Democracy in Bangladesh

Name: Rakibul Haque Mohon

ID: 2211846043
Course Title: POL101
Section: 05
Faculty: Dr Taufiqul Islam
Date of Submission: 25/06/2025
 Democracy in Bangladesh
Democracy: Democracy is the system of government where power is held by the people. The
people of the city have the right to participate in decision making by through the voting in
elections to choose who will work for the people, for the society and the country. People elect
their leaders through regular, transparent elections. The majority’s decision is respected, but the
rights of minorities are also protected. Everyone, including the government, must follow the law.
Power is divided among different branches to prevent abuse. Citizens can express opinions and
criticize the government without fear. People engage in civic life by voting, protesting,
petitioning, or participating in public debate.

Types of Democracy: In our world we can see two types of Democracy.

1. Direct Democracy
2. Representative Democracy

1. Direct Democracy: Direct democracy is a form of government where citizens directly

vote on laws and policies without electing representatives to make decisions for them. We
can see that type of democracy in Ancient Athens and Switzerland.
2. Representative Democracy: Representative democracy is a system of government
where citizens elect leaders to make laws and decisions on their behalf. It is the most
common form of democracy in the modern world. We can see the representative democracy
in India, USA, UK, also in our country Bangladesh.

Roots of the Democracy: The democracy first came in the sixth-century BC (508-507 BC)
was established in Athens. Cleisthenes is referred to as "the father of Athenian democracy".1
From 508 BC to 2025 we can see many different types of democracy. In Bangladesh, we can
found many types of leaders came to establish democracies from 1971 to 2025.

Democracy in Bangladesh: We can found many leaders who works for establishing the
democracy in our country. We discuss about the leaders and the period of their democracy in
below.

1) Shiekh Mujibur Rahman (1972–1975): 1971 was the birth of Bangladesh. After
a 9-month liberation war against Pakistan, Bangladesh become an independent country.
That time people fought for democracy, equality and justice. After the independence of
Bangladesh, the leader of the Liberation War and Liberation movement Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman was released from Pakistan Jail and was sent to London on 8 January 1972. On
Mujib's arrival in London, he was met by the Prime Minister of UK and other world
 leaders. Sheikh Mujib returned to Bangladesh on 10 January 1972, by a British Royal
Air Force Aircraft. In 1973, after the first Bangladesh elections, he continued his term in
office with immense backing from India, and public popularity, but had great difficulty
transforming this popular support into the political strength needed to function as head of
government. After independence, Bangladesh held its first parliamentary elections in
March 1973, where the Awami League won 293 out of 300 seats, showing unmatched
political dominance. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his cabinet
lacked governance experience and depended heavily on civil servants and party factions.
The government focused on relief and rebuilding, but nationalization of the economy,
along with widespread corruption and poor management, led to economic decline and
famine in the following years. in December 1974, Mujib decided that continuing
economic deterioration and mounting civil disorder required strong measures. After
proclaiming a state of emergency, Mujib used his parliamentary majority to win a
constitutional amendment limiting the powers of the legislative and judicial branches,
establishing an executive presidency, and instituting a one-party system, the Bangladesh
Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), which all members of Parliament were
obliged to join. On 15 August 1975, Mujib, and most of his family members were killed
by a small group of mid-level army officers. Mujib's daughters, Sheikh Hasina and
Sheikh Rehana, was out of the country. A new government, headed by former Mujib
associate Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, was formed.
2) Kahondaker Mostaq Ahmed (August-November 1975): Mujib's senior
cabinet minister Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad formed a new government and immediately
initiated a few critical changes in Mujib's policies and rules of business in government.
The notorious Jail Killings happened during this period, amidst the confusion in which
Bangladesh was plunged on 3 November. On the same day, Brig General Khaled
Mosharraf launched his own coup fundamentally as a move to restore the chain of
command broken in the army Musharraf moved swiftly to remove Moshtaque Ahmad
from office. On 7 November Khaled Musharaf was killed in a counter coup engineered
by Colonel Abu Taher.2
3) Ziaur Rahman (1975-1981): After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in
August 1975, Major General Ziaur Rahman gradually emerged as the key political figure
in Bangladesh. He officially became President in 1977 and ruled until his assassination
in 1981. In 1976 Ziaur Rahman abolished the one-party BAKSAL system and restored
multi-party democracy. Held a national referendum to gain popular legitimacy, claiming
over 98% support. In 1978, Ziaur Rahman founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(BNP) to create a political platform rooted in “Bangladeshi nationalism.” Ziaur Rahman
won the first direct presidential election in Bangladesh. Moved away from state-
controlled socialism to encourage private enterprise and liberal economic policies. 3 In
May 1981, Zia was assassinated in Chittagong by dissident elements of the military.
 There was no coup or uprising attempted, and the major conspirators were never taken
into custody or killed.
4) Hussain Mohammad Ershad (1982–1990): Lieutenant General Hussain
Muhammad Ershad seized power through a military coup on 24 March 1982,
overthrowing the elected President Abdus Sattar. He ruled Bangladesh as a military-
backed autocrat. He imposed martial law, suspended the Constitution, and banned
political activities. He formed the Jatiya Party to transition into a civilian ruler and held
elections in 1986, which were widely criticized as rigged. He became President through
an election marked by allegations of irregularities. While he lifted martial law in 1986
and restored parliamentary activity, the opposition remained weak, and press freedom
was restricted. In a controversial move, Ershad amended the Constitution to declare
Islam the state religion, shifting away from secularism. 4 On 6 December 1990, after 2
months of widespread civil unrest, Ershad offered his resignation. 27 February 1991, an
interim government oversaw what most observers widely believed to be the nation's
most free and fair elections to date.
5) Khaleda Zia (1991–1996): After the fall of military rule, Begum Khaleda Zia
became Prime Minister in 1991, leading Bangladesh into a new phase of restored
parliamentary democracy. Through the 12th Amendment (1991), the presidential system
was abolished, and parliamentary democracy was reinstated, empowering the Prime
Minister over the President. In 1991 general election was considered one of the freest in
Bangladesh’s history, bringing the BNP to power and ending years of military-backed
governance.5 Khaleda Zia’s government worked to strengthen democratic institutions
and allowed greater media freedom and civil society activity, though challenges
remained. In 1996, under pressure from the opposition, Khaleda Zia passed the 13th
Amendment, introducing the Caretaker Government system to oversee national
elections.6
6) Sheikh Hasina (1996-2001): Sheikh Hasina formed what she called a "Government
of National Consensus" in June 1996, which included one minister from the Jatiya Party
and another from the Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal, a very small leftist party. The Jatiya Party
never entered into a formal coalition arrangement, and party president H.M. Ershad
withdrew his support from the government in September 1997. Only three parties had
more than 10 members elected to the 1996 Parliament: The Awami League, BNP, and
Jatiya Party. Jatiya Party president, Ershad, was released from prison on bail in January
1997. BNP staged a walkout from parliament in August 1997. The BNP returned to
Parliament under another agreement in March 1998. In June 1999, the BNP and other
opposition parties again began to abstain from attending Parliament. Opposition parties
have staged an increasing number of nationwide general strikes, rising from 6 days of
general strikes in 1997 to 27 days in 1999. In March 2000, US President Bill
Clinton became the first US president to visit Bangladesh. 7 Hasina later stated that
during the visit Clinton wanted to import gas from the Country, but she had to decline
 due to fear of scarcity of gas and for the welfare of the people as they were heavily
dependent on gas.8
7) Khaleda Zia (2001-2006): Begum Khaleda Zia returned to power in 2001 after
winning a landslide victory with her four-party alliance, including Jamaat-e-Islami, in
elections considered generally free and fair by international observers. BNP-led alliance
won two-thirds majority in Parliament, allowing smooth governance. In that election
BNP got 193 seats of the parliament while Awami League got only 62 seats. 9 The Awami
League walked out from the parliament in June 2003 to protest derogatory remarks about
Sheikh Hasina by a state minister and the allegedly partisan role of the Parliamentary
Speaker. In June 2004, Awami League returned to Parliamentary without having any of
their demands met. In that period saw a rise in political and religious violence, including
the 2004 grenade attack on Sheikh Hasina, and the rise of extremist groups. 10 The Awami
League frequently boycotted Parliament and organized strikes, leading to parliamentary
dysfunction. On 21 August 2004, a group of terrorists conducted vicious grenade
attacks on a rally held by the opposition party Awami League including leader Sheikh
Hasina. Prominent leaders including Ivy Rahman were killed in the attack, and Hasina
herself sustained injuries to her ears. Later, during Awami League tenure another probe
formed and alleged that Tarique Rahman son of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia along with
the then Home Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar had masterminded the attack. 11 In 2005,
Awami League attended Parliament irregularly before announcing a boycott of the entire
June 2005 budget session.12 By the end of 2006, severe disagreement over the next
caretaker government’s neutrality led to a constitutional crisis, setting the stage for the
2007 emergency.
8) Sheikh Hasina (2009-2024): The Awami League came to power by winning the
vast majority of parliament seats in the election held on 29 December 2008, and Sheikh
Hasina became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the second time. Her cabinet took
oath on 6 January 2009. HM Ershad was promised to be made President in exchange for
support for Awami League, but despite supporting Awami League, this promise was not
fulfilled and Zillur Rahman became president. The first two years under this government
was peaceful, but a debatable issue took place when the Awami League government
enforced an existing law to reclaim the house where Khaleda Zia had lived for nearly 40
years for a nominal cost. In 2011, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution removed the
caretaker government system, leading to strong opposition backlash and claims of
electoral manipulation13. In 2014 election was held without participation from the main
opposition BNP, as they boycotted in protest. Over half of the seats were uncontested,
raising questions about democratic legitimacy14. In 2018 election, Awami League won
over 90% of seats, amid widespread allegations of vote rigging, voter intimidation, and
crackdown on opposition15. Under Hasina’s rule, Bangladesh has seen increasing
authoritarian tendencies, including the use of the Digital Security Act, arrests of
opposition leaders, and restrictions on press freedom 16. While Hasina's government
 achieved strong economic growth, infrastructure development, and poverty reduction,
critics argue that democratic institutions have weakened 17. Bangladesh was however
grappled by large scale protests in July and August 2024 namely the 2024 Bangladesh
quota reform movement and the 2024 Non-cooperation movement and both protests
were met by brutal resistance that resulted in hundreds of deaths across the whole
country and the eventual resignation of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Awami
League government on 5 August 2024, and Sheikh Hasina subsequently fled to India on
the same day18.

Discussion: Democracy in Bangladesh has experienced cycles of hope, regression, and

revival. Foundational aspirations of democratic governance in 1971 were challenged by
authoritarian turnarounds, military rule, and political confrontations. While institutional
mechanisms (like free elections and amendments) were established at various times, the erosion
of democratic culture—via intolerance, manipulation, and suppression—persisted. The period
under Sheikh Hasina particularly highlighted the dilemma of development without democracy.
The 2024 movement reignited public demand for participatory governance, potentially setting
the stage for a democratic reset. In my opinion, the period of Ziaur Rahman democracy and the
Sheikh Hasina period from 1996 to 2001 was the best democracy period in Bangladesh. They
done many development for our country.
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