In March 1982 Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Hussain Mohammed Ershad - the right hand man of murdered President Zia - dissolved parliament, declared martial (military) law and assumed the position of Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). He also banned political activity by suspending the constitution and moved quickly to prevent any potential threats to public order or to even his own life.

After the assassination of Ziaur Rahman on 30 May 1981 Justice Abdus Sattar (1906 - October 5, 1985) assumed the presidency and suppressed the coup as he was able to retain the support of the Bangladesh Army. He led the BNP to a major victory in the elections held in 1982. 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. Dissatisfaction amongst senior military officers led to a bloodless coup by the army chief Lieutenant General Hossain Mohammad Ershad on 24 March 24 1982.

Ershad came to power and proclaimed himself as the chief martial law administrator. Sattar was briefly arrested by Ershad's regime but released after a few months. Justice Ahsanuddin Chowdhury was made President of Bangladesh on 27 March 1982, a position which he held till 10 December 1983.

In 11 December 1983, Ershad assumed the presidency by replacing previous president A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury and was to remain the 10th president for the next seven years (till 6 December 1990).

Major contributions

  • United India & Pakistan in 1st SAARC Summit - the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was founded in December 1985 in Dhaka Bangladesh to work for the best interest of the Asian people. It's seven founding members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (Afghanistan joined the organization in 2005). President Ershad was instrumental in uniting arch rivals Rajiv Gandhi (of India) and Ziaul Haque (of Pakistan). Ironically, the concept of SAARC was first adopted by Bangladesh during 1977, under the administration of President Ziaur Rahman.
  • Declared Islam the state religion - he amended the constituition of Bangladesh to declare officially Islam as the religion of Bangladesh.
  • Introduced upazila and zilla parishad system - to help administrator the villages properly President Ershad introduced the zilla system which led to the first democratic elections for village councils in 1985.
  • Launched the 'Land Reforms Action Program' - in 1987 the Ministry of Land (founded by President Ershad) set about distributing khas (unoccupied state-owned land) to landless families to prevent poverty.
  • Initiated the construction of Jamuna Bridge - Ershad set up the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge Authority (JMBA) on 3 July 1985 with the task of creating the 5.08 billion taka bridge connecting Bhuapur on the Jamuna River's east bank to Sirajganj on its west bank. This bridge would become the 11th longest bridge in the world and the longest in South Asia.
  • Population and environmental concerns wins Ershad two UN awards - President Ershad was awarded the UN Population Award (1987) and UN Environment Award (1988) for his contribution in making people aware about the issues with population growth and campaigning for the early conclusion of an international convention on the protection and conservation of climate and proposing a worldwide fund to help developing countries stop environmental degradation.
  • Initiate Bangladesh Army's participation in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in 1988 - the Bangladesh Army joined the UN peacekeeping operation for the very first time under President Ershad's leadership, a manoeuvre which would turn out to be one of the highest source of foreign currency earners today.
  • Stabilised the Bangladesh Army - for a nation that was steeped in coup and counter-coup post 1971 independence, it was only after President Ershad's reign that the army did not attempt any coup from Ershad's takeover in 1982 till the fall of BNP government in 1996.

He was the first leader in history to sign a death sentence for throwing acid on women. In the early eighties he himself signed the death sentence of three people who had thrown acid at girls refusing their advances and ordered their public hanging. This led to a dramatic lowering of throwing acid on girls.

He also issued death sentence ruling for any one who would mutilate children for begging. In Bangladesh he was the one who passed a law that if a child is found crippled on the road he has to be taken to police custody and then from their to a hospital and appropriate institution. Any one who voluntarily cripples a child or any one is given a death sentence. This also led to a dramatic decline in crippling children begging in Bangladesh.

He also had a long term ruling on health care with issuing free Tuberculosis and leprosy drugs for the patients in all the health complexes. He stopped human transportation on the Bangladesh Borders. He launched a wide spread campaign against use of Illicit drugs and opening of drug rehabillation centre in Bangladesh.

The Land Reforms Ordinance of 1984[1] granted important rights to tenants for the first time in the history of Bangladesh, and a new plan for the divestment of government industries promised to move the country away from socialism.

General election of 1986

President Ershad founded the Jatiyo Party which won the majority seats in the Jatiyo Sangshad (parliament) by beating Sheikh Hasina's Awami League and Jamaat-e-Islami (who were allowed back into mainstream politics by ex-president Ziaur Rahman). And though the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Ziaur Rahman's wife Khaleda Zia, had boycotted the election the 1986 election gained legitimacy as the other major opposition parties had participated in it.

However, two years later both Awami League and BNP would go on to boycott the 1988 general election citing corruption and human rights abuse.

It is worth pointing out that the same Awami League party won the 1996 general election due to the alliance of Ershad's Jatiya Party.

Presidential election of 1987

The controversial presidential election of 1987, which was boycotted by both BNP and Awami League, saw Ershad declared as president once again after he beat the only other significant candidate Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd.) Syed Faruque Rahman.

This was the same Faruque Rahman who was the prime mastermind behind the August 15 massacre of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family, and the November 3 jail killing of the four Awami League leaders in 1975.

Faruque Rahman also contested with a shiff of paddy - the traditional symbol of the BNP.