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Bangladesh-More Opposition Pressure

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Bangladesh Index

Ballot box at a poling place for the February 1988 union council elections
Courtesy Siria Lopez

Opposition alliances began public protests against the District Council Amendment Bill in June 1987. The five-party alliance implemented a half-day general strike in Dhaka on June 23. A week later, another half-day general strike supported by the parliamentary opposition paralyzed most cities and towns. Nevertheless, on July 12, 1987, the Jatiyo Party majority in Parliament passed the bill. Two days of strikes and public demonstrations followed. Ershad, responding to opposition pressure, sent the bill back to Parliament for "reconsideration." The opposition, realizing that its disunity would allow Ershad to strengthen his hold over the country, intensified its street demonstrations, and its leaders made moves toward greater cooperation against the government. The opposition parties called for Ershad's immediate resignation and new elections under a caretaker government. On July 24, the longest general strike in Bangladesh's history, a 54-hour campaign led by the Workers-Employees United Council (Sramik Karmachari Oikkiya Parishad), ended after 11 people were killed and 700 injured in street violence between demonstrators and security forces. In October the Workers-Employees United Council led another lengthy strike. The strike lasted for forty-eight hours and ended on October 21.

By the fall of 1987, political events had come to a head. Extensive flooding from heavy monsoon season rains led to widespread misery in the countryside and intense criticism of the government's relief efforts (see Climate , ch. 2). Hasina and Khaleda Zia met on October 28, signaling a new phase of cooperation between the two leading opposition coalitions. A liaison committee of the eight-, seven-, and five-party alliances was formed to coordinate the moves of the opposition. The "final showdown," known as the Siege of Dhaka, occurred between November 10 and 12, when the opposition parties brought thousands of supporters into the streets. The government was well prepared for the confrontation, arresting Hasina, Khaleda Zia, and other leaders and sending thousands of security personnel into urban areas to control demonstrations.

Extensive security measures prevented a complete breakdown of public order, and after a week Dhaka was again under control. However, continuing agitation prevented a return to normal life throughout the country, leading Ershad to declare a state of emergency, with familiar restrictions on civil rights, on November 27. The opposition's tactics had shaken the government, but street violence and civil disobedience proved unable to dislodge Ershad's regime.

On December 6, 1987, Ershad dissolved Parliament, which had not met since July. According to the Constitution, he was required to arrange for new elections within ninety days. Also scheduled for early 1988 were elections for union councils and for municipal officials in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi. These elections were occasions for further public agitation by the political opposition. In early January, five smaller parties joined the opposition coalition, which then implemented a two-day general strike on January 20 and 21. Another general strike occurred on February 6, coinciding with the last date for filing nominations for the municipal elections. On February 13 and 14, following the union council elections, the opposition held another general strike. None of these actions prevented the government from implementing its election plans, but they kept the nation in a state of constant protest; the opposition may have hoped that Ershad's supporters in the military would eventually view him as a political liability and force him to resign.

The elections for union councils on February 10, 1988, were particularly hard fought, and they became a major security problem for the government. There were 115,000 candidates vying for 44,000 positions at 20,000 polling stations throughout the country. Widespread violence marred the elections. The official count listed 85 dead and about 500 injured, although opposition figures claimed 150 had been killed and up to 8,000 had been wounded in street battles between demonstrators and security forces. Election violence forced re-voting at 5,500 polling centers in early April, bringing another round of violence that left 4 dead and 100 more injured.

After the union council elections, the government deployed numerous police and paramilitary personnel and army troops for the parliamentary elections held on March 3, 1988. Schools were closed March 1-5, and a public holiday was declared during the two days before the elections. The Awami League's eight-party coalition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's seven-party coalition, the leftist five-party coalition, and Jamaat e Islami led a general opposition boycott. There were 1,168 candidates competing for the 300 seats. The Jatiyo Party won 251 seats, and the Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal, a close ally of the Jatiyo Party in the preceding Parliament, won 21 seats. Other small parties and independents took only 27 seats. The opposition again claimed a very small voter turnout in these elections--about 1 percent--while the government claimed a 50 percent turnout.

Ershad's style of democracy--which did not include the participation of the opposition--had weathered a long political storm. On April 12, 1988, he lifted the state of emergency, and Parliament duly convened on April 25 amid another general strike. Ershad took the occasion of his opening speech to Parliament to advocate Islam as the state religion. This call grew from Ershad's long-term commitment to Islam as an integral part of state ideology, but it also brought his party's position closer to that of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jamaat e Islami, and smaller fundamentalist parties. Again Ershad appeared to be making overtures for a reconciliation with part of the opposition. On June 7, 1988, Parliament, dominated by the Jatiyo Party, passed the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, making Islam the state religion and setting up six permanent high court benches outside Dhaka. The parliamentary opposition voted against the measure, and a general strike paralyzed Dhaka.

After six years in power, Ershad could look back on a series of major personal achievements. He had reconciled differences in the armed forces and prevented further military coups, efficiently managed international diplomacy and aid programs, and guided the country through a period of modest economic growth. He served as chief executive of Bangladesh for a longer period than any leader since independence and, in doing so, brought a sense of stability to the nation. However, Ershad had also kept opposition politicians from sharing power, and although he engineered the change from direct military rule to a civilian government, he made no progress in reconciling the political opposition to his regime. Despite the trappings of a democratic system, the government remained a structure for one-man rule, with a packed Parliament, a handpicked judicial system, and questionable election practices. The opposition conducted its politics in the streets and refused to grant any legitimacy to Ershad. Stability depended on Ershad's personal survival and his ability to keep street politics under control.

Data as of September 1988

Background		Europeans began to set up trading posts in the area of Bangladesh in the 16th century; eventually the British came to dominate the region and it became part of British India. In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan. East Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units separated by 1,600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied. East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed Bangladesh. A military-backed, emergency caretaker regime suspended parliamentary elections planned for January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and root out corruption. In contrast to the strikes and violent street rallies that had marked Bangladeshi politics in previous years, the parliamentary elections finally held in late December 2008 were mostly peaceful and Sheikh HASINA Wajed was reelected prime minister. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development.
Location		Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
Area(sq km)		total: 143,998 sq km land: 130,168 sq km water: 13,830 sq km
Geographic coordinates		24 00 N, 90 00 E
Land boundaries(km)		total: 4,246 km border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
Coastline(km)		580 km
Climate		tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
Elevation extremes(m)		lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m
Natural resources		natural gas, arable land, timber, coal
Land use(%)		arable land: 55.39% permanent crops: 3.08% other: 41.53% (2005)
Irrigated land(sq km)		47,250 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources(cu km)		1,210.6 cu km (1999)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)		total: 79.4 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%) per capita: 560 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards		droughts; cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season
Environment - current issues		many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; waterborne diseases prevalent in surface water; water pollution, especially of fishing areas, results from the use of commercial pesticides; ground water contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic; intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil degradation and erosion; deforestation; severe overpopulation
Environment - international agreements		party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note		most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal
Population		156,050,883 (July 2009 est.)
Age structure(%)		0-14 years: 34.6% (male 27,065,625/female 26,913,961) 15-64 years: 61.4% (male 45,222,182/female 50,537,052) 65 years and over: 4% (male 3,057,255/female 3,254,808) (2009 est.)
Median age(years)		total: 23.3 years male: 22.9 years female: 23.5 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate(%)		1.292% (2009 est.)
Birth rate(births/1,000 population)		24.68 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Death rate(deaths/1,000 population)		9.23 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population)		-2.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
Urbanization(%)		urban population: 27% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 3.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Sex ratio(male(s)/female)		at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.94 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births)		total: 59.02 deaths/1,000 live births male: 66.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 51.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth(years)		total population: 60.25 years male: 57.57 years female: 63.03 years (2009 est.)
Total fertility rate(children born/woman)		2.74 children born/woman (2009 est.)
Nationality		noun: Bangladeshi(s) adjective: Bangladeshi
Ethnic groups(%)		Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998)
Religions(%)		Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)
Languages(%)		Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
Country name		conventional long form: People's Republic of Bangladesh conventional short form: Bangladesh local long form: Gana Prajatantri Banladesh local short form: Banladesh former: East Bengal, East Pakistan
Government type		parliamentary democracy
Capital		name: Dhaka geographic coordinates: 23 43 N, 90 24 E time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions		6 divisions; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet
Constitution		4 November 1972; effective 16 December 1972; suspended following coup of 24 March 1982; restored 10 November 1986; amended many times
Legal system		based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage		18 years of age; universal
Executive branch		chief of state: President Zillur RAHMAN (since 12 February 2009) head of government: Prime Minister Sheikh HASINA Wajed (since 6 January 2009) cabinet: Cabinet selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president elections: president elected by National Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last election held on 11 February 2009 (next scheduled election to be held in 2014) election results: Zillur RAHMAN declared president-elect by the Election Commission on 11 February 2009 (sworn in on 12 February); he ran unopposed as president; percent of National Parliament vote - NA
Legislative branch		unicameral National Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad; 300 seats elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies; members serve five-year terms elections: last held 29 December 2008 (next to be held in 2013) election results: percent of vote by party - AL 49%, BNP 33.2%, JP 7%, JIB 4.6%, other 6.2%; seats by party - AL 230, BNP 30, JP 27, JIB 2, other 11
Judicial branch		Supreme Court (the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president)
Political pressure groups and leaders		Advocacy to End Gender-based Violence through the MoWCA (Ministry of Women's and Children's Affairs) other: environmentalists; Islamist groups; religious leaders; teachers; union leaders
International organization participation		ADB, ARF, BIMSTEC, C, CP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OPCW, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Flag description		green field with a large red disk shifted slightly to the hoist side of center; the red disk represents the rising sun and the sacrifice to achieve independence; the green field symbolizes the lush vegetation of Bangladesh
Economy - overview		The economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996 despite inefficient state-owned enterprises, delays in exploiting natural gas resources, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, mainly in the Middle East and East Asia, fuel economic growth. In 2008 Bangladesh pursued a monetary policy aimed at maintaining high employment, but created higher inflation in the process.
GDP (purchasing power parity)		$226.4 billion (2008 est.) $214 billion (2007 est.) $201.5 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)		$84.2 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate(%)		5.8% (2008 est.) 6.2% (2007 est.) 6.4% (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)		$1,500 (2008 est.) $1,400 (2007 est.) $1,300 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector(%)		agriculture: 19.1% industry: 28.6% services: 52.3% (2008 est.)
Labor force		70.86 million note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $4.8 billion in 2005-06. (2008 est.)
Labor force - by occupation(%)		agriculture: 63% industry: 11% services: 26% (FY95/96)
Unemployment rate(%)		2.5% (2008 est.) 2.5% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line(%)		45% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share(%)		lowest 10%: 4.3% highest 10%: 26.6% (2005)
Distribution of family income - Gini index		33.2 (2005) 33.6 (1996)
Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP)		24.3% of GDP (2008 est.)
Budget		revenues: $8.825 billion expenditures: $12.54 billion (2008 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%)		8.9% (2008 est.) 9.1% (2007 est.)
Stock of money		$9.294 billion (31 December 2008) $8.444 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money		$37.98 billion (31 December 2008) $32.35 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of domestic credit		$47.03 billion (31 December 2008) $40.1 billion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares		$6.671 billion (31 December 2008) $6.793 billion (31 December 2007) $3.61 billion (31 December 2006)
Economic aid - recipient		$1.321 billion (2005)
Public debt(% of GDP)		39.4% of GDP (2008 est.) 43% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products		rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry
Industries		cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
Industrial production growth rate(%)		6.9% (2008 est.)
Current account balance		$1.032 billion (2008 est.) $856.8 million (2007 est.)
Exports		$15.44 billion (2008 est.) $12.47 billion (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities(%)		garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
Exports - partners(%)		US 21%, Germany 13.2%, UK 8.6%, France 6.3%, Netherlands 4.7% (2008)
Imports		$21.51 billion (2008 est.) $16.67 billion (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities(%)		machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement
Imports - partners(%)		China 14.7%, India 14.7%, Kuwait 7.5%, Singapore 7.1%, Japan 4.1% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold		$5.789 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $5.278 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external		$22.83 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $21.23 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home		$5.971 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $5.261 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad		$97 million (31 December 2008 est.)
Exchange rates		taka (BDT) per US dollar - 68.554 (2008 est.), 69.893 (2007), 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004)
Currency (code)		taka (BDT)
Telephones - main lines in use		1.39 million (2009)
Telephones - mobile cellular		45.75 million (2009)
Telephone system		general assessment: inadequate for a modern country; fixed-line telephone density remains less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone subscribership has been increasing rapidly and has reached 30 per 100 persons domestic: modernizing; introducing digital systems; trunk systems include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some fiber-optic cable in cities international: country code - 880; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia; satellite earth stations - 6; international radiotelephone communications and landline service to neighboring countries (2008)
Internet country code		.bd
Internet users		556,000 (2008)
Airports		17 (2009)
Pipelines(km)		gas 2,597 km (2008)
Roadways(km)		total: 239,226 km paved: 22,726 km unpaved: 216,500 km (2003)
Ports and terminals		Chittagong, Mongla Port
Military branches		Bangladesh Defense Force: Bangladesh Army (Sena Bahini), Bangladesh Navy (Noh Bahini, BN), Bangladesh Air Force (Biman Bahini, BAF) (2009)
Military service age and obligation(years of age)		16 years of age for voluntary military service; 17 years of age for officers (both with parental consent); conscription legally possible in emergency, but has never been implemented (2008)
Manpower available for military service		males age 16-49: 41,199,340 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service		males age 16-49: 24,946,041 females age 16-49: 31,409,069 (2009 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually		male: 1,538,865 female: 1,666,670 (2009 est.)
Military expenditures(% of GDP)		1.5% of GDP (2006)
Disputes - international		discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, exchange territory for 51 small Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111 small Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's fencing and walling off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint Bangladesh-India boundary commission resurveyed and reconstructed 92 missing pillars in 2007; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; after 21 years, Bangladesh resumes talks with Burma on delimiting a maritime boundary
Refugees and internally displaced persons		refugees (country of origin): 26,268 (Burma) IDPs: 65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2007)
Electricity - production(kWh)		22.99 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - production by source(%)		fossil fuel: 93.7% hydro: 6.3% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption(kWh)		21.38 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports(kWh)		0 kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - imports(kWh)		0 kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production(bbl/day)		6,426 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption(bbl/day)		95,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports(bbl/day)		2,612 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports(bbl/day)		87,660 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves(bbl)		28 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural gas - production(cu m)		17.9 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - consumption(cu m)		17.9 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - exports(cu m)		0 cu m (2008)
Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m)		141.6 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%)		less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS		12,000 (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths		fewer than 500 (2007 est.)
Major infectious diseases		degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations water contact disease: leptospirosis animal contact disease: rabies note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)
Literacy(%)		definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 47.9% male: 54% female: 41.4% (2001 Census)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years)		total: 8 years male: 8 years female: 8 years (2004)
Education expenditures(% of GDP)		2.7% of GDP (2005)