1991 Bangladeshi general election

← 1988 27 February 1991 Feb 1996 →
300 of the 330 seats in theJatiya Sangsad 151 seats needed for a majority
Registered	62,181,743
Turnout	55.45% ( 2.97pp)
First party Second party   Leader Khaleda Zia Sheikh Hasina Party BNP AL Alliance 7 Party Last election Boycotted Boycotted Seats won 140 88 Seat change New New Popular vote 10,507,549 10,259,866 Percentage 30.81% 30.08%   Third party Fourth party   Leader H.M. Ershad Ghulam Azam Party JP(E) Jamaat Last election 251 seats 251 seats Seats won 35 18 Seat change 216 New Popular vote 4,063,537 4,136,661 Percentage 11.92% 12.13%
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before election Post vacant (acting presidentShahabuddin Ahmed led acaretaker government) Prime Minister after election Khaleda Zia BNP

General elections were held inBangladesh on 27 February 1991. TheBangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) emerged as the largest party in parliament, winning 140 of the 300 directly elected seats. The BNP formed a government with the support ofJamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and on 20 MarchKhaleda Zia was sworn in for her first term asPrime Minister.^[1]

The elections were described to be free and fair by many international observers, and it played a major role in solidifying Bangladeshi democracy in aftermath of the anti-government protests in late 1980s. Voter turnout was 55.4%.^[2][3]

The election was disproportionate, with the BNP winning 52 more seats than theAwami League, despite their popular vote total differing by less than one percentage point.

In 1990 amass uprising led by futurePrime MinistersKhaleda Zia andSheikh Hasina deposed the formerArmy ChiefHussain Muhammad Ershad from power in December.^[4] Ershad had assumed the presidency in 1983^[5] following acoup d'état in 1982.

The previousgeneral elections had been held in 1988 and saw Ershad'sJatiya Party win 251 of the 300 seats.^[2] However, the elections had been boycotted by all major opposition parties and were described by one Western diplomat as "a mockery of an election".^[6] On 6 December 1990, the day of Ershad's resignation, parliament was dissolved^[7][4] and new elections were scheduled for 2 March 1991, but subsequently advanced to 27 February, with all major political parties participating.

The 330 members of theJatiya Sangsad consisted of 300 directly elected seats usingfirst-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies,^[8] and an additional 30 seatsreserved for women. The reserved seats were elected by the directly elected members.^[9] Each parliament sits for a five-year term.

During the announcement of the party manifesto ahead of the general election, Sheikh Hasina expressed optimism about the Awami League securing a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The party pledged to restore the 1972 Constitution and re-establish the parliamentary system if elected. On the campaign trail inBogra, Hasina emphasized the party's focus on realistic commitments, promising solutions to regional issues such as the construction of theJamuna Bridge. Her confidence in electoral victory was evident in various speeches, including a rally inKhulna where she was quoted byThe Daily Ittefaq saying that both at home and abroad, people believed the Awami League would return to power. In contrast, BNP leader Khaleda Zia combined promises of development with warnings against voting for the Awami League. At a rally on Dhaka’sManik Mia Avenue, she stated, “We hold the flag of independence, others hold the chains of servitude,” urging voters to choose the BNP's symbol, the sheaf of paddy, to protect national sovereignty.^[10]

The elections saw the BNP win 140 of the 300 directly elected seats, 11 short of a parliamentary majority. The BNP's primary rivals, theAwami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, won only 88 seats. However, there was little difference between the two main parties in terms of the popular vote share, with BNP only receiving around 250,000 votes more than the Awami League.^[2]

Of the directly elected 300 seats, only four were won by female candidates.^[1][11] Following the elections, the BNP won 28 of the 30 reserved seats for women.^[1]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				General	Women	Total	+/–
	Bangladesh Nationalist Party	10,507,549	30.81	140	28	168	New
	Awami League	10,259,866	30.08	88	0	88	New
	Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami	4,136,661	12.13	18	2	20	New
	Jatiya Party	4,063,537	11.92	35	0	35	–216
	Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League	616,014	1.81	5	0	5	New
	Zaker Party	417,737	1.22	0	0	0	New
	Communist Party of Bangladesh	407,515	1.19	5	0	5	New
	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab)	269,451	0.79	0	0	0	New
	Islami Oikya Jote	269,434	0.79	1	0	1	New
	National Awami Party (Muzaffar)	259,978	0.76	1	0	1	New
	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu)	171,011	0.50	0	0	0	New
	Ganatantri Party	152,529	0.45	1	0	1	New
	National Democratic Party	121,918	0.36	1	0	1	New
	Bangladesh Janata Dal	120,729	0.35	0	0	0	New
	United Communist League of Bangladesh	110,517	0.32	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan	93,049	0.27	0	0	0	0
	Bangladesh Freedom Party	90,781	0.27	0	0	0	–2
	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Siraj)	84,276	0.25	1	0	1	–2
	Bangladesh Muslim League (Ainuddin)	66,565	0.20	0	0	0	New
	Workers Party of Bangladesh	63,434	0.19	1	0	1	New
	Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Khaliquzzaman)	34,868	0.10	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Muslim League (Kader)	32,693	0.10	0	0	0	New
	Janata Mukti Party	30,962	0.09	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Ganotantrik Party	24,761	0.07	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Inquilab Party	24,310	0.07	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Oikkya Front	21,624	0.06	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Janata Party–Ganatantrik Oikkya Jote	20,568	0.06	0	0	0	New
	Jomiyatay Wulamayya Islami Party	15,073	0.04	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Mahbub)	13,413	0.04	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Hindu League	11,941	0.04	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal (Marxist-Leninist)	11,275	0.03	0	0	0	New
	Oikkya Prakriyya	11,074	0.03	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Muslim League (Matin)	11,073	0.03	0	0	0	New
	National Awami Party (Bhashani)	9,129	0.03	0	0	0	New
	Pragotishil Jatiyatabadi Dal	6,677	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal	6,396	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Biplobi Front	3,671	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Pragotishil Ganatantrik Sakt	3,598	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Janata Party (Ashraf)	3,187	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Jatiya Tanti Dal	3,115	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Muslim League (Yusuf)	2,757	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Jukta Front	2,668	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Janata Party (Asad)	1,570	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh National Congress	1,421	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Chhashi Dal	1,317	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Gano Azadi League (Samad)	1,314	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Janasakti Party	1,263	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Nezam-e-Islam Party	1,236	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Islamic Samajtantrik Dal Bangladesh	1,039	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Freedom League	1,034	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Peoples Democratic Party	879	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh People's League (Goariobi Newaz)	742	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Mukti Dal	723	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Jana Parishad	686	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Muslim Peoples Party	515	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Mukti Andolan	503	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh National Hindu Party	502	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal	496	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Democratic League	453	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Humanitarian Organization for the Prevention of Smoking and Drug Abuse	453	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Tarun Sangha	417	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Labour Party	318	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Manobatabadi Dal	294	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Ideal Party	251	0.00	0	0	0	New
	National Awami Party (Sadequr Rahman)	248	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Khilafat Party	241	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Islamic Biplobi Parishad	214	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Islami Front	202	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Bekar Samaj	182	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Adarsha Krishak Dal	154	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Islamic Revolutionary Party	138	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Bekar Party	39	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Sramajibi Party	28	0.00	0	0	0	New
	National Awami Party (Nur Mohammad Kazi)	27	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Jatiya People's Party	25	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Independents	1,497,369	4.39	3	0	3	–22
Total		34,103,677	100.00	300	30	330	+30
Valid votes		34,103,677	98.92
Invalid/blank votes		374,026	1.08
Total votes		34,477,703	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		62,181,743	55.45
Source: Nohlenet al., Bangladesh Election Commission,Kumar Panday

InSeptember 1991 a constitutional referendum was held, which sought the transfer of executive powers from thePresident to thePrime Minister, making the presidency largely a ceremonial role. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of theconstitutional amendments and the country returned to being a parliamentary democracy in line with its founding constitution.

Following the announcement of the general election results, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina alleged at a press conference that undemocratic forces had subtly manipulated the outcome. A letter by Awami League leaderDr. Kamal Hossain, written to the party’s executive council, stirred considerable debate. In it, he attributed the party’s defeat to overconfidence, arrogance, and lack of grassroots engagement. Dr. Hossain noted that many Awami League leaders and activists had assumed victory well in advance, leading to complacency. He also criticized the party's weak counter-campaign against right-wing and anti-independence forces who had portrayed the Awami League as pro-India and anti-religion.

Meanwhile, discussions continued between the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami regarding government formation. Eventually, Jamaat-e-Islami formally communicated its support for the BNP to the acting president. On 20 March 1991, Khaleda Zia was sworn in as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.^[10]

• 1991 elections in Bangladesh
• General elections in Bangladesh
• 1991 elections in Asia

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