1981 Bangladeshi presidential election

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
1981 Bangladeshi presidential election
← 1978 15 November 1981 1986 →
Turnout56.51%
 
Candidate Abdus Sattar Kamal Hossain
Party BNP AL
Popular vote 14,203,958 5,636,113
Percentage 65.52% 26.00%
President before election

Abdus Sattar (acting)
BNP

Elected President

Abdus Sattar
BNP

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of the
People's Republic of Bangladesh
Constitution and law
Government
Parliament
Judiciary
  • Metropolitan courts
Administrative divisions
Elections
Foreign relations
flag Bangladesh portal

Presidential elections were held in

Awami League. Voter turnout was 56.5%.[2]

Background

In May 1981 the President

acting President of Bangladesh, despite being in hospital at the time.[3] Speaking to foreign reporters in Bangabhaban on 4 June, Satter announced that in line with the constitution, elections would be held within 180 days of the death of the former president, to "foil any conspiracy to disturb the democratic process in the country."[3]

Campaign

According to the New York Times, much of the campaign revolved around the legacy of the two late leaders of the BNP and Awami League, Ziaur Rahman and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On the day before the elections, the newspaper reported "Despite the lively participation of 26 candidates, the Bangladesh presidential election campaign that ended here today has been dominated almost entirely by the auras of two dead adversaries. The two - Sheik Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence and was killed in 1975, and Gen. Ziaur Rahman, who governed for five years until he was murdered by army officers last May 30 - were the centerpieces at huge rallies that the two major parties staged here in the capital."[4]

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
M. A. Jalil
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal248,7691.15
Muzaffar AhmedNAP (M)–CPB224,1881.03
33 other candidates682,1543.15
Total21,677,560100.00
Valid votes21,677,56098.49
Invalid/blank votes332,5241.51
Total votes22,010,084100.00
Registered voters/turnout38,951,01456.51
Source: Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

Sattar was overthrown in a bloodless

coup d'état in March 1982 by the Army Chief of Staff, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who assumed the Presidency in 1983, until being deposed himself in a popular mass uprising in 1990
.

References

  1. ISBN 0-19-924958-X
  2. ^ Nohlen et al., p545
  3. ^ a b Acting President in Dacca Promises New Elections The New York Times, 5 June 1981
  4. ^ In Bangladesh Election, the Aura of Two Dead Leaders Is Pervasive The New York Times, 14 November 1981
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1981_Bangladeshi_presidential_election&oldid=1212483721"