Opposition to Ershad's policies began to escalate, and general strikes, campus protests, public rallies, and a general disintegration of law and order ensued. Ershad was forced to resign in December, 1990, and officials were chosen by the opposition parties to head an interim government. Parliamentary elections were held on February 27, 1991.
In what has been called the fairest election in Bangladesh history, the center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party emerged as the single largest block. The party's leader, Begum Khaleda Zia, wife of the slain Zia Rahman, became the new prime minister.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party formed a coalition government with the Islamic fundamentalist party Jamaat-e-Islami. In September, 1991, the electorate approved changes to the constitution, which formally created a new parliamentary system and returned governing power to the prime minister, as was stated in Bangladesh's original constitution.
Abdur Rahman Biswas was elected head of state in October, 1991, by members of parliament. Opposition legislators resigned
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In December, 1994, in an attempt to force Begum Khaleda Zia to step down and allow early elections under a neutral caretaker administration. When she refused, the opposition staged a series of strikes and shutdowns that greatly curtailed the country's much-needed economic reforms.
President Biswas then dissolved parliament and called new elections for February, 1996, but asked Begum Khaleda Zia to stay in office until a successor was selected. The opposition parties refused to take part in the elections while she remained in office and boycotted the February elections, citing that procedures had been rigged to ensure victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
Opposition leaders then organized a series of crippling strikes and transport blockades in an attempt to force an annulment of the elections and transfer power to a neutral caretaker government. The new parliament bowed to their demands and passed laws enabling the president to form a caretaker government. Parliament was again dissolved.
New elections were completed on June 23, 1996, with the Awami Muslim League garnering a majority of seats. Sheikh Hasina Wazed, leader of the Awami Muslim League and daughter of Mujib, was sworn in as the new prime minister, and Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed replaced Biswas as Bangladesh's president.
Sheikh Hasina's government was troubled from the beginning. Begum Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh National Party claimed there had been widespread fraud in the election and with the help of Hussain Mohammad Ershad's Jatiya Party, the Bangladesh National Party retained representation in the parliament. Struggles between the Awami League and the Bangladesh National Party continued to trouble the nation's politics. On October 1, 2001, the BNP, heading a four-party opposition alliance, managed an electoral comeback and Khaleda Zia returned to power.
The electoral conflicts in Bangladesh were accompanied by both progress and problems in the economy and society. A relatively high rate of economic growth helped the country move from a deficit in food production to a surplus by 2001. Longtime rebels in the Chittigong Hill tracts in the southeastern area began to lay down their arms as a result of an agreement with the government in December, 1997. However, tensions with neighboring India intensified when Bangladeshi security forces seized a border outpost under Indian control on April 17, 2001, resulting in military retaliation by India. The electoral year of 2001 was marred by a series of explosions set off by unknown groups.
Daniel G. Graetzer Updated by the Editors
World History
