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1979 Bangladeshi general election

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300 of the 330 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad 151 seats needed for a majority
Registered	38,363,858
Turnout	51.29% ( 3.62pp)
First party Second party   Leader Ziaur Rahman Asaduzzaman Khan Party BNP AL Last election – 293 seats Seats won 207 39 Seat change New 256 Popular vote 7,934,236 4,734,277 Percentage 41.17% 24.56%
Senior Minister (acting Prime Minister) before election Mashiur Rahman BNP Subsequent Prime Minister Shah Azizur Rahman BNP

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General elections were held in Bangladesh on 18 February 1979. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the party of the incumbent military regime, which won 207 of the 300 directly elected seats, although it only won 41% of the vote. Voter turnout was 51%. The Awami League became the main opposition party after winning 39 seats.

The elections were organized by the military regime in Bangladesh. The elections were postponed twice, as they were initially supposed to be held in December 1978. The political opposition in Bangladesh intended to boycott the elections, unless the military regime the military regime withdrew martial law, assured that there would be a parliamentary system, released political prisoners, and restored full press freedom. Ziaur Rahman made some concessions to the opposition, but the fell short of their full demands. Subsequently some opposition parties decided to take part in the elections.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				General	Reserved	Total	+/–
	Bangladesh Nationalist Party	7,934,236	41.17	207	30	237	New
	Awami League	4,734,277	24.56	39	0	39	–269
	Bangladesh Muslim League–Islamic Democratic League	1,941,394	10.07	20	0	20	New
	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal	931,851	4.83	8	0	8	+7
	Awami League (Mizan)	535,426	2.78	2	0	2	New
	National Awami Party (Muzaffar)	432,514	2.24	1	0	1	New
	United Peoples' Party	170,955	0.89	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Gono Front	115,622	0.60	2	0	2	New
	National Awami Party (Nurur-Zahid)	88,385	0.46	0	0	0	New
	Communist Party of Bangladesh	75,455	0.39	0	0	0	0
	Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist–Leninist)	74,771	0.39	1	0	1	New
	Bangladesh Jatiya League	69,319	0.36	2	0	2	+1
	Jatiya Ekata Party	44,459	0.23	1	0	1	New
	Bangladesh Ganatantrik Andolan	34,259	0.18	1	0	1	New
	Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal	27,259	0.14	0	0	0	New
	National Awami Party (Naser)	25,336	0.13	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Janata Dal	18,748	0.10	0	0	0	New
	National Republican Party for Parity	14,429	0.07	0	0	0	New
	Jatiya Janata Party	10,932	0.06	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Labour Party	7,738	0.04	0	0	0	New
	People's Democratic Party	5,703	0.03	0	0	0	New
	Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal	4,954	0.03	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Democratic Party	3,564	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Jatiya Mukti Party	3,363	0.02	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Tanti Samity	1,834	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Nezam-e-Islam Party	1,575	0.01	0	0	0	New
	Gano Azadi League	1,378	0.01	0	0	0	New
	United Republican Party	389	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Bangladesh Ganatantrik Chashi Dal	130	0.00	0	0	0	New
	Independents	1,963,345	10.19	16	0	16	+15
Total		19,273,600	100.00	300	30	330	+15
Valid votes		19,273,600	97.95
Invalid/blank votes		402,524	2.05
Total votes		19,676,124	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		38,363,858	51.29
Source: Nohlen et al., IPU, Government of Bangladesh

References

1. Islam, Syed Serajul (1984). "The State in Bangladesh under Zia (1975-81)". Asian Survey. 24 (5): 556–573. doi:10.2307/2644413. ISSN 0004-4687.
2. "Election History". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
3. Dieter Nohlen; Florian Grotz; Christof Hartmann (2001). Elections in Asia: A data handbook. Vol. I. p. 535. ISBN 0-19-924958-X.
4. Government of Bangladesh (1991). A Background Paper on Bangladesh Parliamentary Elections. Dhaka: Press Information Department (Handout No. 429).
5. Bangladesh 1979. Inter-Parliamentary Union
6. ^ Baxter, Craig; Rashiduzzaman, M. (1981). "Bangladesh Votes: 1978 and 1979". Asian Survey. 21 (4): 485–500. doi:10.2307/2643936. ISSN 0004-4687.
7. Khan, Mohammad Mohabbat; Zafarullah, Habib Mohammad (October 1979). "The 1979 Parliamentary Elections in Bangladesh". Asian Survey. 19 (10): 1023–1036. doi:10.2307/2643851. JSTOR 2643851.

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• 1979 elections in Bangladesh
• General elections in Bangladesh
• 1979 elections in Asia
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