A. In the last 52 years of Bangladesh’s history, no free, fair and impartial election has been held under a party government, even the most optimistic do not think that it will happen in the future. On the other hand, in the last 25 years, the main issue of all the political conflicts and clashes in the country was how the elections will be held. This has resulted in massive loss of life, destruction of property, damage to economic prospects, and opportunity for foreign intervention. In order to get out of this vicious circle, the political reality of Bangladesh must have a system of elections under a neutral government in the constitution itself. The ongoing rhetoric about ‘unelected government’ is meaningless. We have to decide whether we want an unelected government of three months or five years.
b. Let’s take a look at the statistics (percentage of votes/seats) of the four elections that have been held fairly in Bangladesh. In the 1991 elections, Awami League got 30.08 percent, BNP 30.81 percent, Jamaat 12.13 percent and Jatiya Party 11.92 percent. In this election, Awami League got 88 seats, BNP 140 seats, Jamaat 18 seats and Jatiya Party 35 seats. In the 1996 elections, Awami League got 37.44 percent, BNP 33.61 percent, Jamaat 8.61 percent and Jatiya Party 16.40 percent. In this election, Awami League got 146 seats, BNP 116, Jamaat 3 and Jatiya Party 32 seats. In the 2001 election, Awami League got 40.13 percent, BNP 40.97 percent, Jamaat 4.28 percent and Jatiya Party 1.12 percent. In this election, Awami League got 62 seats, BNP 193 seats, Jamaat 17 seats and Jatiya Party 4 seats. In the 2008 elections, Awami League got 48.04%, BNP 32.50%, Jamaat 4.70% and Jatiya Party 7.04%. In this election, Awami League got 230 seats, BNP 30 seats, Jamaat 2 seats and Jatiya Party 27 seats.
