Bangladesh: the Democratic Election of 2001
The Conflict
Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan at the end of 1972 and has been struggling with its democratic processes since that time. The 2001 electoral competition was between leaders of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Sheikh Hasina, who had been prime minister from 1996 to 2001, and Begum Khaleda Zia, prime minister from 1991 until 1996. They have long been extremely bitter enemies. Although there was violence and turmoil in this election, they succeeded in exchanging the control of the government from one party to another without assassination or a coup d'état. The election of 2001 was a landmark, in that it was the first time since Bengali independence in 1971 that a sitting government actually completed an entire constitutionally prescribed five-year term without a coup, mass resignations by opposition parties, or an assassination.
Political
• Since gaining independence in 1971, Bangladesh has experienced two presidential assassinations, three military coups, and 19 failed coup attempts.
Economic
• Tremendous problems remain to be resolved in Bangladesh due to the extreme poverty of the nation. The country remains among the poorest nations in Asia because it lacks natural resources and because of its years of military-civilian conflict.
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