Hussain Muhammad Ershad - Presidency

Presidency

After the assassination of Ziaur Rahman on 30 May 1981, Lt. Gen. Ershad remained loyal to the government and ordered the army to suppress the coup attempt of Zia's associates led by Major General Abul Manzoor. It is widely speculated that Monjur was used as a scapegoat and Ershad himself was behind the liquidation of President Zia; although never proven in any court of law, even when Zia's widow was in power in 1991-1996 and again in 2001-2006. Ershad maintained loyalty to the new president Abdus Sattar, who led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to victory in elections in 1982. Ershad even alloted two houses to Mrs. Khaleda Zia and her two sons, one of them in Dhaka Cantonment where Ziaur Rahman's family still resides, and became a centre point of controversy later on, and evicted from it in November 2010.

However the BNP government was not doing well and pressure increased from high-ranking army commanders for the military to take over the reins of state. Ershad came to power in a bloodless coup on 24 March 1982 and proclaimed himself Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA), President Justice Sattar was replaced. He took over as president on 11 December 1983 by replacing A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury.

Ershad played a key role during the SAARC Summit in 1985, which was the first summit held in Dhaka, uniting all member states of South-East Asian States. A significant achievement was that he brought together the leaders of arch rivals - India and Pakistan, Rajiv Gandhi and Ziaul Haque respectively.

As president, Ershad included amendments into the constitution of Bangladesh which declared Islam the state religion, abandoning state secularism. To improve rural administration, Ershad introduced the Upazila and Zila Parishad system and held the 'first democratic elections for these village councils' in 1985.

In a sham Presidential Election, 1987, Ershad was nominated by Jatiyo Party, which had been created by him and his supporters. Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted it. The only significant candidate was Lieutenant Colonel Syed Faruque Rahman, prime accused in the August 15 Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the November 3 jail killing in 1975. Faruque contested with shiff of paddy, otherwise, the traditional insignia of BNP. Ershad, however, won the election.

Although the BNP led by Khaleda Zia boycotted, the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina participated in the Bangladeshi general election, 1986. The Jatiyo Party led by Ershad won the elections winning a majority in the Jatiyo Sangshad. In 1987 Bangladesh's Land Ministry launched the 'Land Reforms Action Program', an initiative to distribute khas – unoccupied state-owned land – to landless families. A novel element of the land reform was the establishment by the Ministry of Land.

Ershad's regime is often seen as the longest autocratic rule in Bangladesh. Although there were two general elections, they were widely criticized by the opposition parties - BNP boycotted the election in 1986 but that election gained legitimacy as the other major opposition party Awami League founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Jamaat-e-Islami which was resurrected by President Ziaur Rahman also participated the election.

Both the BNP and the Awami League boycotted the Bangladeshi general election, 1988. There were some reports of violence, human rights abuse and corruption during his tenure, which, however, still is a common practice by any government in power in Bangladesh and simply multiplied. It should be noted that Transparency International branded Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world for the first time during the tenure of Awami League (1996 to 2001) and never went off the number one spot till the fall of BNP (2001 to 2006).