February 15, 1996. A dark chapter was written in Bangladesh’s political history as the BNP held a one-sided election that the BNP inevitably won. The BNP claimed that this election was necessary to introduce the caretaker government system through the Thirteenth Amendment.

It should be noted that since 1994, all opposition parties in Parliament had been demanding a non-partisan caretaker government system to conduct national elections following widespread rigging in the Magura by-election. In June, the Awami League presented a framework for a caretaker government and gave the government until December 27 to implement it.

In this situation, Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Ninian Stephen visited Dhaka and discussed with Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed. He stayed in Dhaka for about six weeks. He proposed a formula for a ten-member caretaker government headed by Khaleda Zia, with five members nominated by the opposition. However, none of them would hold any executive responsibilities; the departmental heads or secretaries would perform these duties.

While the then BNP government accepted this formula, the Awami League rejected it and accused Sir Ninian Stephen of being biased.

In an interview published in the Canberra Times on November 24, 1994, Sir Ninian stated that the political crisis in Bangladesh was not rooted in any ideological conflict but rather in the “deep suspicion and mistrust” between them.

“The Opposition Leader exhibits bitter antipathy towards the Prime Minister personally, and she has made it clear she [Ms Zia] is to step down,” Sir Ninian claimed, even though Khaleda Zia’s term as Prime Minister was until February 1996.

Due to the government’s refusal to resign immediately and introduce a caretaker government, 147 opposition MPs, led by Sheikh Hasina, resigned from Parliament in December of that year. Among the resigning MPs were those elected from the Awami League, Jatiya Party, and Jamaat-e-Islami. Although the Speaker initially refrained from accepting their resignations, the 147 MPs did not return to Parliament, and after 90 working days, their parliamentary seats were declared vacant as per the rules.

Since a two-thirds majority in Parliament is required to amend the constitution, and with the opposition MPs’ seats vacant, either a by-election in those 147 seats or the dissolution of Parliament and a new election became necessary to amend the constitution. The opposition parties announced that they would boycott and resist any by-elections.

Meanwhile, the opposition’s street protests continued, leading to casualties, and the country almost reached a standstill. Even the Prime Minister’s vehicle was attacked. In this situation, in November, Khaleda Zia demanded that a re-election be held and the opposition members return to Parliament. However, the opposition parties, led by the Awami League, also rejected this demand.

Therefore, on November 25, 1995, Begum Khaleda Zia called the President to dissolve Parliament and hold a new election. The President dissolved Parliament and arranged a new national election on February 15, 1996.

However, there were widespread fears of violence surrounding this election, which was held despite many risks. In reality, only 10% of the voters cast their ballots.

In this context, Barrister Rafiqul Islam Mia, a member of the BNP Standing Committee, said in 2012, “It was not possible to pass the caretaker bill by amending the constitution without a two-thirds majority in Parliament. At that time (in the 5th Parliament), the BNP did not have a two-thirds majority. What would have happened if the parliamentary elections had not been held after the term of the 5th Parliament ended? Then, there would have been no government. If there was no government, who would have been in power? In such a crisis, the 6th National Assembly election had to be held.”

He claimed that the BNP government formed after this election did nothing else but pass the caretaker government bill.

Meanwhile, the protests intensified after the election. Awami League-affiliated officers and employees in the Secretariat revolted.

Within a month of the election, the new Parliament passed the thirteenth Amendment, and the BNP government handed over power to the caretaker government.