Bangladesh
State of Democracy Assessment
Description of Electoral System
(Courtesy of IFES elction guide)
The monarchy is hereditary. In the National Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) 300 members are elected by direct popular vote to serve 5-year terms.
Electoral Systems Snapshot
(Courtesy of International IDEA)
*Click on links for definitions
| Electoral System for National Legislature | FPTP |
| Type | Plurality/Majority |
| Tiers | 1 |
| Legislature Size (Directly elected, voting members) | 345, 345 |
| Electoral System for President | - |
WANT MORE ELECTION-RELATED STATS FOR BANGLADESH? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.
Most Recent Elelction
(Courtesy of wikipedia)
The national election was held on 29 December 2008. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League in the first national elections in seven years, gaining approximately 230 of the 300 seats in parliament. The Party has more than two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.
In 2007, parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held in Bangladesh. They were originally scheduled for 21 January, but postponed by two days due to demands by the opposition made in December 2006. They were put back by one day to 22 January, and subsequently postponed due to opposition protests and boycott threats.
Riots erupted in October 2006 as the government of outgoing Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Bangladesh National Party (BNP) was to turn over power to a caretaker government of MK Hasan. At least three people died as thousands of demonstrators gathered on the streets in numerous towns. The opposition objected to Hasan because it felt he was too close to the BNP. President Iajuddin Ahmed became head of the caretaker government instead, but he is also opposed by Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina and her allies, who accuse him of favoring Zia. On January 3, 2007, Hasina announced that the Awami League and its allies would boycott the election, but the Election Commission stated that the election would be held regardless of the boycott.
DID YOU KNOW?
In 1991, Bangladesh introduced a "care-taker authority" responsible for preparing the country for election and stop ruling governments from rigging elections.
From January 4, 2007 until January 7, 2007 public protests were held to reach electoral reform; these protests brought the capital, Dhaka, to a standstill, and led to a state of emergency being declared on January 11, 2007 by Ahmed, who stepped down as chief advisor a few hours later. He also said that the elections would be delayed, and that Fazlul Haque would become acting chief adviser until Ahmed appointed a new chief adviser within a few days. Later on the same day, Fakhruddin Ahmed was appointed as the new chief adviser.
On April 5, the county's chief election official declared that the elections would need to be pushed back at least eighteen months. Subsequently on April 12 Fakhruddin Ahmed, the Chief Advisor, announced in a televised speech to the nation that the next parliamentary elections would be held before the expiry of the year 2008.
