Transcript Political Parties in Bangladesh

Political Parties in
Bangladesh
Dr. Kazi Shahdat
Kabir
Political Parties
• According to R.C. Gettell- a political party
is a group of citizen more or less
organized who act as a political unit, who
by the use of their voting power aim to
control the government and carry out
their general policies. [Introduction to
political science p,286.]
Political Parties in Bangladesh:
Muslim League ML
• Political Party at partition in 1947 there
was practically one overwhelming party
in East Pakistan, the Muslim League.
• Parties after 1947 All India Muslim
League changed its name to Pakistan
Muslim League in December 1947.
Political Parties in Bangladesh:
Muslim League ML
• The dissident elements of the Muslim
League formed new parties, such as
Awami Muslim League, Nezami Islam,
Khilfat-i-Rabbani Party, Krishak Sramik
Party, etc.
Political Parties in Bangladesh:
Muslim League ML
The League's steep decline and virtual
death were registered in the 1954
elections of the East Bengal
Legislative Assembly in which the
United Front scored a landslide victory.
Political Parties in Bangladesh:
Muslim League ML
• Ayub Khan caused a split in the
Muslim League to float his own party
known as the Pakistan Muslim League
(Convention). He became its president
in 1963. The other branch of the
Muslim League, known as the Council
Muslim League.
Political Parties in Bangladesh:
Muslim League ML
• During the war of liberation (1971) both the
factions of the Pakistan Muslim League
supported Pakistan and were thus banned
in Bangladesh after liberation.
• In July 1976, the party was revived under
the name of Bangladesh Muslim League,
now almost disappeared.
Political Parties in Bangladesh:
Jamaat-e-Islami JI
• Jamaat-e-Islami Hind was established on
26 August 1941 by Syed Abul Ala
Mawdudi (1903-1979).
• In Bangladesh a fraction of Jamaat
leaders formed another party in 1977
called Islamic Democratic league (IDL)
but it was short lived.
Political Parties in Bangladesh:
Jamaat-e-Islami JI
• Along with Muslim League it opposed the
liberation movement in 1971.
• The party joined the Anti-Ershad
movement in the late 1980s and gained
significant number of support.
Political Parties in Bangladesh
Awami League AL
• The end of the War of Liberation, Awami
League took over the control of the new
nation on 16 December 1971.
• In the first general election of the country
in 1973, the AL again won
overwhelmingly.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Awami League AL
• But in the context of the deteriorating
economic conditions and the famine of
1974 AL switched over to a presidential
form of government and a single party
system called the Bangladesh Krisak
Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL) in
1975.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Awami League AL
• This phase ended with the brutal killing of
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his
family members on 15 August 1975.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh: parties emerged
from AL
• In 1976, the AL resumed political
activities not in the name of BAKSAL.
• But between 1970 and 1981 several
people and groups left Awami League
to form their own parties, which include
the Jatiya League (1970) by ataur
rahman khan…Cont.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh: parties emerged
from AL
• Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD, 1972) by
Maj. M. A. Jalil and A. S. M. Rob, Jatiya
Janata Party (1976) by General
mohammad ataul ghani osmany, Gana
Azadi League (1976) by abdur rashid
tarkabagish, Bangladesh Democratic
League (1976) by Khondaker Mostaq
Ahmad.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh: parties emerged
from AL
• National Awami Party From the mid1950s the Awami League suffered a
growing conflict between two of its
leaders, HS Suhrawardy and Abdul
Hamid Khan Bhasani around the issues
of foreign policy and regional autonomy.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh; parties emerged
from AL
• Bhasani, a populist leader of great
influence among the peasants and
workers, opposed HS Suhrawardy for
his pro-American foreign policy and his
lack of support to the autonomy of
East Bengal.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh: parties emerged
from AL
• This eventually led to a split within the
Awami League and formed the National
Awami Party (NAP) with the support of the
left-leaning leaders and workers of the AL.
• It was the first party to oppose the Awami
League in 1972.
• But by 1988, the party split into as many as
13 separate parties and factions.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh: Communist Party
• The Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP)
was formed in 1948 in the second
congress of the Communist Party of India
(CPI). The East Pakistan Communist
Party (EPCP) was also established at the
same time.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Communist Party
• The EPCP broke into EPCP (MarxistLeninist) and EPCP (pro-Chinese) in
1966.
• Over the years these parties have
fragmented mostly into small-armed
factions or cliques, and as many as 18 of
them can be traced.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh: Bangladesh
Nationalist Party BNP
• Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) the
party emerged in the late 1970s as a
state-sponsored party headed by
President ziaur rahman.
• In the 1979 parliamentary elections, BNP
won more than two-thirds of the seats.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Bangladesh
Nationalist Party BNP
* After assassination of President Ziaur
Rahman in an abortive military coup on
30 May 1981, Justice Abdus Sattar took
the power.
• Justice Abdus Sattar was forced out of
power on 24 March 1982 by another
military coup led by General Hussein
Muhammad Ershad.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Bangladesh
Nationalist Party BNP
• BNP faced a crisis in 1983 when it split
into three factions: BNP (Sattar), BNP
(Huda) and BNP (Dudu-Nilu) over the
question of leadership.
• The Sattar group tried to consolidate itself
under the leadership of Begum Khaleda Zia,
but soon after Shah Aziur Rahman (Ex-PM
of BNP) also left the party.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Bangladesh
Nationalist Party BNP
• In the general elections of 1991, it
performed well by securing 140 seats
against Awami League's 88. In the general
elections of 1996, BNP secured 116 seats.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Jatiya Party JP
• In the Jatiya Sangsad elections of 2001,
the BNP-led four party alliance secured
two-thirds of the seats of the Sangsad
and formed the government.
• JP It is a state-sponsored centrist party
floated on 1 January 1986 under the
chairmanship of Lt. General HM Ershad.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Jatiya Party JP
• In the parliamentary election held in May
1986 and thereafter in March 1988, it
won easily, although both the elections
were said to have been rigged heavily.
• JP has now fragmented into JP (Ershad),
JP (Anwar Hossain Manju) and JP
(Naziur Rahman Manju now BJP).
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantric
Dal JSD
• Jatiya Samajtantric Dal (JSD) emerged
as a major leftist party after the
emergence of Bangladesh. Its origin
can be traced to the division within the
Bangladesh Students League, a
student front of AL.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantric
Dal JSD
• The leftist group led by Sirajul Alam
Khan and ASM Abdur Rab steered the
formation of the new party on 31
October 1972 with Abdur Rab and
Major M.A Jalil as joint convenors.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantric
Dal JSD
• The party vehemently opposed the
Awami League in power from 1972 to
1975.
• Its motto was scientific socialism and it
sought to establish through revolution a
classless society, free of exploitation,
under the leadership of peasants and
workers.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantric
Dal JSD
• A faction of JSD led by Khaliquzzaman
Bhuiyan left it and established
Bangladesh Samajtrantik Dal (BSD)
which claimed to be the true MarxistLeninist party.
• In 1982, BSD fragmented into two
parties, one led by Khaliquzzaman
Bhuiyan and another by AFM Mahbubul
Haq.
Political Parties in
Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantric
Dal JSD
• JSD also split into three groups in 1984,
JSD (Rab), JSD (Siraj), JSD (Jalil) over
the issue of whether to participate or not
in the upazila election, which was held in
1984. In 1986, JSD (Siraj) again broke
into two: JSD (Inu) and JSD (Siraj).
Political Parties in
Bangladesh conclusion
• In the elections of 1996 in Bangladesh,
eighty one political parties participated.
• In spite of the rise of so many political
parties over time, the public is essentially
grouped under two major political parties,
Awami League and Bangladesh
Nationalist Party,
Political Parties in
Bangladesh conclusion
• the next major parties being Jatiya Party
and Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, based
on representation in the parliament.