The Fall of the Military Dictator: 1991 Elections and the Prospect of Civilian Rule in Bangladesh

Abstract

T HE detractors of the democratic experiment in Bangladesh usually talk of the existence of a large number of political parties. They argue that the existence of so many parties will prevent the crystalization of political opinions into reasonable options and thus pose a threat to democratic development. The results of parliamentary elections held on February 27, 1991 disprove this thesis. The number of parties officially contesting the election was 76. The voters rejected almost all of these parties, favouring four major parties. This suggests that if free and fair elections are held at regular intervals, the natural tendency of politics to exhibit dual characteristics as emphasized by Maurice Duverger,I might take place, and effective party government could well emerge in Bangladesh. However, free and fair elections could be held in Bangladesh only after the overthrow of the regime of Lieutenant-General Hussain Muhammad Ershad (Ershad) who seized power in March 1982 through a military coup d'dtat and who ruled up to November 1990. How could Ershad rule for almost nine years when severe instabilities marked the politics of Bangladesh in the first decade? How was the Ershad regime overthrown? What were the main themes of the campaign by the leading parties? Did the election of 1990 represent any social change in Bangladesh? What were skills exhibited by the leaders of the new government? What is the prospect of the civilian rule in Bangladesh? In this paper we shall be concerned with all of these questions.