2008 Bangladeshi general election

2008 Bangladeshi general election
← 2001 29 December 2008 (2008-12-29) 2014 →
300 of the 345 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad[a]
151 seats needed for a majority
Turnout87.13% (Increase 12.16pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Sheikh Hasina Khaleda Zia H.M. Ershad
Party AL BNP JP(E)
Alliance Grand Alliance Oikya Alliance Grand Alliance
Last election 40.02%, 62 seats 41.40%, 193 seats 7.22%, 14 seats
Seats won 230 30 27
Seat change Increase 168 Decrease 163 Increase 13
Popular vote 33,634,629 22,757,101 4,926,360
Percentage 48.04% 32.50% 7.04%
Swing Increase 8.02pp Decrease 8.90pp Decrease 0.18pp
Results by constituency
Chief Advise before election

Fakhruddin Ahmed
Independent (caretaker government)

Subsequent Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina
AL

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General elections were held in Bangladesh on 29 December 2008. The two main parties in the election were the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and the Bangladesh Awami League Party, led by Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awami League Party formed a fourteen-party Grand Alliance including Ershad's Jatiya Party,[1] while the BNP formed a four-party alliance which included the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami.[2] The election was originally scheduled for January 2007, but it was postponed by a military-controlled caretaker government for an extended period of time.

The elections resulted in a landslide victory for the Awami League-led grand alliance,[3] which won 263 seats of the 300 directly elected seats. The main rival four-party alliance received only 32 seats, with the remaining four going to independent candidates. Polling in the constituency of Noakhali-1 was postponed due to the mysterious death of the AL candidate. The election for the seat was held on 12 January 2009 instead[4] and was won by the BNP candidate.[5] Voter turnout was 87%, the highest ever recorded in a Bangladeshi general election.


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  1. ^ "AL to contest polls under 14-party banner". Priyo. 17 November 2008. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Elect 4-party to protect sovereignty: Khaleda apologises for past mistakes, wraps up campaign". The New Nation. Dhaka. 28 December 2008. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018 – via HighBeam Research. The chairperson of BNP and the leader of the four-party alliance [Begum Khaleda Zia] ... Barrister Abdur Razzak, assistant secretary general of Jamaat, Moulana Abdul Latif Nezami, secretary general of Islami Oikkya Jote ... among others, addressed the rally.
  3. ^ "Bangladesh stunned by Awami victory". BBC News. 29 December 2008. Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  4. ^ "Bangladesh Election Commission announces results of 299 seats in Parliamentary elections". Xinhua. 31 December 2008. Archived from the original on 11 January 2009.
  5. ^ "EC satisfied with Noakhali polls". The Daily Star. United News of Bangladesh. 13 January 2009. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012.