University of Dhaka

Department of Public Administration

5th Batch 2nd Semester
Course: PA-121, Politics and Government
Class Assignment # 1

Submitted ToDr. Nasima Khatun

Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Dhaka
Submitted ByATM Abdullah
Roll- 62
Class- 1st year, 2nd semester
Session- 2010-2011

Submission Date: 26th November, 2011

Practice of Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh

From 1991 to 2011

CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Meaning of Democracy
3. Types of democracy
3.1. Pure or Direct Democracy
3.2. Indirect or Representative Democracy
4. Parliamentary from of democracy
5. Democracy in Bangladesh before 1990
6. History of Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh 1991 to 2011
6.1. Period 1: The Government of Khaleda Zia (1991-1996)
6.1.1 Challenges in the Economic Sector
6.2. Period 2: Political Crisis in 1994 & Short Time Power of BNP
6.3. Period 3: The Government of Sheikh Hasina (1996-2001)
6.3.1 Economic Conditions
6.3.2 Increase of Favoritisms and Corruptions
6.3.3 Political Conflicts
6.4. Period 4: 2nd Time in Power of Begum Khaleda Zia (2001-2006)
6.4.1. Improving the Law and Order Situation
6.4.2. Sluggish economic condition
6.4.3. Increase of Terrorism
6.4.4. Unbearable Corruption
6.5. Period 5: 2nd time of the Government of Sheikh Hasina (2009-2014)
6.5.1. BDR Mutiny-2009
6.5.2. 15th amendment of the Constitution and Share Market Fall
7. Practice of Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh 1991 to Present
7.1. The Parliamentary Committees and their Ineffectiveness
7.2. Violating the Provision of ROP
7.3. The Speakers Role
7.4. Opposition Bench Ignored
7.5. Boycotting Parliament Session
7.6. Quorum Crisis
7.7. Ineffective Legislature
7.8. Lack of Democracy in Party Politics
7.9. The Backbenchers influence
7.10. Lack of Trust and Respect
8. Conclusion

1. Introduction:
The global discuss on and understanding of democracy revels that democracy enjoys an
unparalleled admiration as a norm. Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in
which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. South Asian
countries have had a variable democratic history since their emergence from British colonial
rule in the late 1940s. Bangladesh like most of the third world countries has a twin challenge to
face: institutionalization of a democratic order and at the same time attains a target rate of
economic growth of development. The focus of this assignment is to review the era of
parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh since its emergence in the year 1991. The raison deter
of our war of independence was parliamentary democracy, and that commitment had been
reflected in her Constitution in 1972. Still 20 years took for the light to shine in her political
history which was already marked by a mixed and scandalous culture. Parliamentary
democracy first came into being in 1991 when Bangladesh national party, one of the two ever
present force in political arena took power after national election .The main emphasis is on the
working of parliamentary democracy after 1991.The total review is based on the time length
that holds the history of democracy in Bangladesh after 1991 and is derived mostly from the
national events and their consequences.

2. Meaning of Democracy:
The term democracy is derived from the Greek word demos and kratos. Here demos
means the people and kratos means power. Democracy thus means power of the
people.(1)
Democracy is the form of government in which people rule over themselves. Ideally, this
includes equal and more or less direct participation in the proposal, development and passage
of legislation into law. It can also encompass social, economic and cultural conditions that
enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination. In a democratic state people
have the right to give a shape to the government, to appoint it and to dismiss it. The people
appoint a new government after some years through elections, and express their will on
important matters through the press or other matters. The following are the definition of
democracy: President Abraham Lincoln, it is a government of the people, by the people and for
the people.(2)
According to Bryce, Democracy is that form of government in which the ruling
power of a state is legally vested, not in any particular class or classes but in the
member of the community as a whole.(3)

 Prof. Gettell said, Democracy is that form of government in which the mass of the
population possesses the right to share in the exercise of sovereign power.(4)
In brief, we can say that democracy is that form of government in which the sovereign power
of the state is in the hands of the people and the people are the source of the state power and
people take part in the government directly or indirectly.

3. Types of democracy:
In the above we define democracy. Now we see its types. There are two types of democracy:3.1. Pure or Direct Democracy
3.2. Indirect or Representative Democracy
These are defined bellow

3.1. Pure or Direct Democracy:

When the people themselves directly express their will on public affairs, the type of democracy
is called pure or direct democracy.(5) The people formulate laws in a mass meeting. It was
established in ancient Greek city-states. Direct democracy is a political system where the
citizens participate in the decision-making personally, contrary to relying on intermediaries or
representatives. A direct democracy gives the voting population the power to; change
constitutional laws; put forth initiatives, referendums and suggestions for laws and give
binding orders to elective officials, such as revoking them before the end of their elected term,
or initiating a lawsuit for breaking a campaign promise.. Examples of this include the extensive
use of referendums in California with more than 20 million voters.

3.2. Indirect or Representative Democracy:

In an indirect or representative democracy the will of the state is formulated and expressed not
directly by the people themselves, but by their representatives to whom they give power of
deliberation and decision making. This type of government was established in England in the
17th century. Representative democracy involves the selection of government officials by the
people being represented. If the head of state is also democratically elected then it is called a
democratic republic. The most common mechanisms involve election of the candidate with a
majority or a plurality of the votes. A characteristic of representative democracy is that while
the representatives are elected by the people to act in the people's interest, they retain the
freedom to exercise their own judgment as how best to do so. Parliamentary form of
democracy is one kinds of indirect or representative democracy.

4. Parliamentary from of democracy:

Parliamentary democracy is a representative democracy where government is appointed by
representatives as opposed to a 'presidential rule' wherein the President is both head of state
and the head of government and is elected by the voters. Under a parliamentary democracy,

government is exercised by delegation to an executive ministry and subject to ongoing review,

checks and balances by the legislative parliament elected by the people. One of the commonly
attributed advantages to parliamentary systems is that it's faster and easier to pass legislation.
This is because the executive branch is dependent upon the direct or indirect support of the
legislative branch and often includes members of the legislature.. Parliamentary democracy is
also practice in Bangladesh.

5. Democracy in Bangladesh before 1990:

Parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh since its emergence in the year 1991.Only two
exceptions can be marked from the pre-1990s era. One is the election of 1946 where Muslim
league won most of the East Bengal seats which in turn outlined the borders of current
Bangladesh. The second instance is the 1970-71 general assembly election where Awami
League won all of the East Pakistan seats. This gave the Bangladeshis enough political support
to ask for independence and thus push Pakistan into the War of Liberation in 1971. Since in
1971, democracy has been in crisis in Bangladesh. After the independence, the 1972
Constitution provided a fairly parliamentary system of government similar to the Indian model
but comparable to the Westminster type. Undoubtedly, this was one of the greatest
achievements of the newly elected government headed by the Father of the nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Although Bangladesh succeeded in framing a
Constitution within the shortest period of time, yet its capacity for democratic governance as a
nation-state has been under constant political strain, such as fostering the transition towards
democratic governance since her birth in 1971. Although Bangladeshs commitment to
democracy and the UN Human Rights was clearly reflected in its 1972 Constitution, the people
of Bangladesh soon witnessed the defeat of their long cherished parliamentary democracy to
authoritarian rule on 25 January 1975. The failure of the new rulers to resolve the clashes
between the centripetal and centrifugal forces of social, economic, and political cleavages
clearly demonstrated their inadequacy as agents for solving the economic as well as political
development problems facing the country. The violent change of the populist Government by
the bloody military coup, and the assassination of the Father of the nation by a handful derailed
army personnel on 15 August 1975, left the whole nation bewildered and perplexed. For the
next 16 years, the country was run by the civil-military-bureaucrats left behind a section of
demoralized and inefficient bureaucracies that were used to ensure regimes survival. During
the army autocracy, there was no scope of the rule by the will of the people nor did the
democratic rites and procedure of free and fair elections receive any fair play.

6. History of Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh 1991 to 2011:

After liberation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ziaur Rahman and Hossain Mohammad Ershad
were the three prominent leaders. All of them proclaimed democracy but none showed any sign
of acknowledging peoples opinion. Actual democracy in Bangladesh started from 1990 with
the overthrowing of Hossain Mohammad Ershad. The disgruntled people of all strata of social
life were utterly helpless but to launch an antigovernment movement which finally turned into
a mass upheaval. Following the prolonged and violent anti-government agitation, the last
autocratic regime of General Ershad ultimately had to step down in early December 1990,
surrendering power to a Caretaker Government headed by Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, the
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. After that we had four general elections.
Two of them were won by Bangladesh Nationalist Party and two were won by Bangladesh
Awami League.

6.1. Period 1: The Government of Khaleda Zia (1991-1996):

The center-right BNP won a plurality of seats and formed a coalition government with the
Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, with Khaleda Zia, widow of Ziaur Rahman,
obtaining the post of Prime Minister. The electorate approved still more changes to the
constitution, formally re-creating a parliamentary system and returning governing power to the
office of the prime minister, as in Bangladesh's original 1972 constitution. In October 1991,
members of Parliament elected a new head of state, President Abdur Rahman Biswas. The first
three and a half years of the Government of Begum Khaleda Zia was a very brief period for a
parliamentary democracy to take shape. One notable feature of the parliamentary democracy
was the formation of various parliamentary Committees and sub-Committees, which were
overseeing the activities of various Ministries. Though structurally the Committees seemed to
be quite sound, operationally they failed to be effective. For instance, the Committees on
curbing terrorism in the University Campuses, administrative corruption, as well as the
Committee on Indemnity Bill could not come out with positive recommendations owing to the
lack of any consensus on their modus operandi. The opposition seemed also indifferent to
parliamentary norms and practices by their frequent boycotts of the parliamentary sessions.
The bureaucracy, though made constitutionally subservient, seemed to have remained
dominant functionally due to the lack of administrative experience of the Ministers. In addition
to the continuance of the Special Power Act (1974), the Khaleda Zias Government passed the
Antiterrorism Act without the participation of the opposition parties, was, however, branded as
a Black Law.

6.1.1 Challenges in the Economic Sector:

The shattered economy inherited from the previous regime was getting much better gradually
under the BNP Government (1991-96), in spite of the catastrophic cyclone and tidal waves that
swept over the eastern as well as the southern part of the country early in 1991, killing
thousands of people, destroying more than eighty percent of the crops, and many more homes.
It was the natural disasters of 1991 caused major infrastructural damages and did make
negative impact on the economy, especially in the aftermath of the earlier floods and cyclones
of 1987 and 1988. Thus, the first part of Begum Zias Government was dominated by the
management work in relation to crises following the cyclone and tidal wave of 1991 as well as
the economy recovery programs. Any assessment of Bangladesh economy during her regime
must, therefore, be made in the context of economic constraints resulting from endemic natural
disasters. Yet, there had been significant economic gains over the 5 years tenure of the
Regime. For instance the per capita income, GDP, and the GNP marked creditable
improvement.

6.2. Period 2: Political Crisis in 1994 & Short Time Power of BNP:
In March 1994, controversy over a parliamentary by-election, which the opposition claimed
the government had rigged, led to an indefinite boycott of Parliament by the entire opposition.
The opposition also began a program of repeated general strikes to press its demand that
Khaleda Zia's government resign and a caretaker government supervise a general election. The
opposition then continued a campaign of Marches, demonstrations, and strikes in an effort to
force the government to resign. The opposition, including the Awami League's Sheikh Hasina,
pledged to boycott national elections scheduled for February 15, 1996. In March 1996,
following escalating political turmoil, the sitting Parliament enacted a constitutional
amendment to allow a neutral caretaker government to assume power conduct new
parliamentary elections; former Chief Justice Mohammed Habibur Rahman was named Chief
Advisor in the interim government. New parliamentary elections were held in June 1996 and
were won by the Awami League; party leader Sheikh Hasina became Prime Minister.

6.3. Period 3: The Government of Sheikh Hasina (1996-2001):

After a protracted movement for long 21 years, the Awami League (AL) under the Prime
Minister ship of Sheikh Hasina formed a sort of' Consensus Cabinet of 44 members. Like
most of the previous governments, the newly elected Government had to face challenges from
three fronts. First, how to institutionalize the revived parliamentary democracy? Second, how
to attain the target rate for a sustainable economic growth for development? Finally, how to
improve the fast deteriorating law and order situation in the country? Sheikh Hasina formed
what she called a "Government of National Consensus "included one minister from the Jatiya

Party and another from the Jatiyo Samajtantric Dal. Although international and domestic
election observers found the June 1996 election free and fair, the BNP protested alleged vote
rigging by the Awami League. The success of the AL Government headed by Sheikh Hasina,
seemed not plausible after the completion of 2 years of its 5-year term. On the political front,
one notable feature of Sheikh Hasina's Governance was the formation of a government of
Consensus with the support of its one time archrival, military dictator, General Ershad's
Jatiya Party (JP), seemingly an interesting development in the history of parliamentary
democracy in Bangladesh. This period was facing a series of boycotts of Parliament by the
BNP parliamentarians.

6.3.1 Economic Conditions:

In spite of some improvement in the country's law and order situations and achievements of
foreign policy decisions, the AL Government's economic performances during its tenure in
office seemed not all praiseworthy. In respect of savings and investment, country's domestic
savings declined to 7.7 percent in 1997 from 8.2 percent in 1995, and similarly the gross
national savings marked decline in 1997 from 1995 position. Of course, the total investment
marked slight increases; except for the agricultural sector, which recorded an all time high
growth rate of 6 percent in 1997 against 3.7 percent in the previous year, all other sectors,
including industrial, construction, electricity, gas, water and sanitary services, declined
considerable in terms of productivity. Soon after the Government took office, the country's
stock market got bogged down because of its faulty policy. The downward trend in share price
index began since November 1996 with no sign of improvement whatsoever as yet.

6.3.2 Increase of Favoritisms and Corruptions:

Despite some success in the political, economic and diplomatic arena, the regime seemed to
have been bogged down by the free style crimes and corruptions of its political cronies. It was
alleged that even the constitutional institution like the Public Service Commission (PSC) was
turned into the depot of corruptions, nepotism and party parlor. The University campuses and
residential Halls of the students turned into safe heaven for the terrorists and hijackers. For the
last five years' tenure of the regime may be characterized by terrorism, unabated corruption,
politicization of administration, govern mental facilities and opportunities.

6.3.3 Political Conflicts:

At the end of 1996, the BNP staged a parliamentary walkout over this and other grievances but
returned in January 1997 under a four-point agreement with the ruling party. The BNP asserted
that this agreement was never implemented and later staged another walkout in August 1997.
The BNP returned to Parliament under another agreement in March 1998. In June 1999, the
BNP and other opposition parties again began to abstain from attending Parliament. Opposition

parties have staged an increasing number of nationwide general strikes, rising from 6 days of
general strikes in 1997 to 27 days in 1999. A four-party opposition alliance formed at the
beginning of 1999 announced that it would boycott parliamentary by-elections and local
government elections unless the government took steps demanded by the opposition to ensure
electoral fairness. The government did not take these steps, and the opposition has
subsequently boycotted all elections, including municipal council elections in February 1999,
several parliamentary by-elections, and the Chittagong city corporation elections in January
2000. The opposition demands that the Awami League government step down immediately to
make way for a caretaker government to preside over parliamentary and local government.

6.4. Period 4: 2nd Time in Power of Begum Khaleda Zia (2001-2006):

The Eighth parliamentary elections, the third national elections under the Caretaker
Government since 1991, were held on 1st October 2001. The election results show that the
BNP led 4-Party Alliance secured 214 seats while BNP alone bagged 191 seats out of 300
parliamentary general seats. The AL headed by Sheikh Hasina captured 62 seats while the
remaining seats were shared by the 'Independent' candidates and other smaller parties.
Professor Dr. lajuddin Ahmed was sworn in as the Seventh President of Bangladesh on 6
September 2002.Begum Khaleda Zia was sworn in for the second time as the Prime Minister
on 10 October 2001 and formed a "JUMBO" Cabinet of 6014 members with 13 State and 2
Deputy Ministers. But it could not worked effectively and its result shown in 2008 national
election. It was alleged that the political leadership of the BNP failed to deliver perceived
outcome of democracy in her second term of 5-year rule. In fact, brute majority of the 4-Party
Alliance made them overambitious, callous, confused and irresponsible and thereby they
appeared to be a possible threat to democracy in Bangladesh.

6.4.1. Improving the Law and Order Situation:

After assuming the State power, the 4-Party Alliance leadership declared a 100 days program
to improve the fast deteriorating conditions of the country specially the law and order situation
which was but mostly the legacy of past regimes. In fact, during 5-year's tenure of the regime,
the law and order situation did not improve rather deteriorated further. The violation of human
rights or sending of opposition workers under the bar had been a common phenomenon since
the introduction of the parliamentary democracy in the country. The cases of extra-judicial
murders increased alarmingly. The measures or steps taken by the regime to arrest the on going
situation were ineffective if not inadequate. Common people had to live under a vicious circle
of uncertainty and constant threats to their life and property. The army takes an operation
called Operation Clean Heart to increase the law and order condition for a time of one month
in this period.

6.4.2. Sluggish economic condition:

It was alleged that during the past regime, the foreign currency reserve was sunk to its lowest
recorded level. The Alliance Government succeeded, to some extent, in salvaging the trickling
down economy of the country. Yet, the overall economic condition was not encouraging. The
much-coveted objectives of Millennium Development Goals and turning Bangladesh into an
Emerging Tiger were frustrated by the powerful vested interests if not the perpetrators
enjoying political as well as State patronage.

6.4.3. Increase of Terrorism:

The most vexing problem facing the Government was terrorism. In fact, the defeat of the AL
Government in the October 2001 elections was greatly attributed by terrorism almost all part of
the country. The 4-Party Alliance Government could do a little improve to this situation rather
in some cases it worsens further. Different so called Islamic terrorist group hamper the
situation of the country. Islamist violence targeting courts and imposing social strictures
became a serious problem as Zia's term wore on. For example of the 21st August greened attack
on ALs meeting.

6.4.4. Unbearable Corruption:

One of the main reasons of the defeat in 2008 election is the resulting of huge corruption in
every sector of the government and bureaucratic sectors. The survey carried out by the World
Bank, Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) and other agencies surveys shows that
the corruptions in customs and income taxes, police and judiciary (mainly in the lower level),
had been a common phenomena. On the other hand, transport, public corporate sectors and
city-corporations' administrations became a den of corruption during the 5-year tenure of the
Beghum Zia regime.

6.5. Period 5: 2nd time of the Government of Sheikh Hasina (2009-2014):

Against the back drop of unbridled corruption, failures, inefficiency and in effectiveness of the
regime, the Ninth parliamentary elections were held on 29 December 2008. Earlier it was
scheduled to be held in January 2007, but due to the unprecedented protests, agitation and
movement led by the main Opposition party, AL, against the Khaleda regime's heavy
corruption and specially elections engineering mechanism devised to favor her regime
prompted the military backed Caretaker Government to postpone the elections for an extended
period of time. In January 2007, the head of the caretaker Professor Dr. lajuddin Ahmed
government stepped down, many believe under pressure from the military. Fakhruddin Ahmed,
former governor of Bangladesh Bank, was selected to replace him and has committed himself
to rooting out corruption and preparing a better voter list. Emergency law was declared and a
massive campaign to crack down on corruption is underway. By July 2007 some 200,000

people had been arrested. Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the majority party in the Parliament and
the newly formed Grand-Alliance was sworn in for the second tenure as the Prime Minister on
6 January 2009. And formed a Coalition Cabinet with 31 Cabinet members among them 23 are
Ministers and eight State Ministers. Only three years passed in this tenure. In these three years
some incident are haled.

6.5.1. BDR Mutiny-2009:

Within its first month in office, the Grand-Alliance Government led by Sheikh Hasina had to
confront the mutiny of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). Without going into details (because the
case is still under trial), it may be maintained the BDR mutiny could lead to an unprecedented
bloody war between the two major security establishments of the country, each equipped with
sophisticated weapons of war. The armed clash between the two security forces could have
engulfed not only the Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh, but it could have spread throughout
the country16. The Prime Minister demonstrated her political sagacity and that saved the
nation from an imminent blood shed and civil war.

6.5.2. 15th amendment of the Constitution and Share Market Fall:

In 3rd July 2011 the government amended the Constitution of Bangladesh without any
negotiation of the opposite party. It abolishes the caretaker government system which was not
accepted by all groups. It also changed the principle of the nation. It also changed or added
some article of the constitution. Another incident happened in the 5 th period of the Hasinas
government was the huge fall of the share market price. This happened during the December
2010 to present.

7. Practice of Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh 1991 to Present:

Parliamentary from of democracy was first established in Bangladesh in 1991. After the
passing of 20 years, we cannot see any difference among the political parties and their
activities. Now we see shortly how the political parties practice democracy in these 20 years:-

7.1. The Parliamentary Committees and their Ineffectiveness:

Parliamentary Committees are the most important system in democracy. It is often called a
"Mini Parliament". Additional committees are appointed by the Parliament for the purpose of
considering draft Bills, examining legislative proposals, reviewing and proposing measures for
enforcement of laws and investigating or inquiring into the functions of the Ministries and
administration require expert views. But it practice occasionally.

7.2. Violating the Provision of ROP:

In 2005, the Law Minister asked his party lawmakers in writing to take permission of the
Leader of the House or the party's parliamentary Whip before placing a private Member's Bill
in Parliament. Sensing that the instruction was not compatible with the Rules of Procedure of

Parliament (ROP), the Speaker requested the Law Minister to sit with his party lawmakers to
resolve the issue. But the Government in the Law Ministry stood by its own decision. This
amounts to the Speaker's inability to protect the rights of the legislators from the executive
arrogances.

7.3. The Speakers Role:

The functioning of a vibrant Parliament depends largely upon how the Speaker conducts the
business of the House. Article 74 of the Constitution provides that Parliament shall at the first
sitting after any general election, elect from among its members, a Speaker. As a result the
speaker belonging to a specific political party actually the ruling party. Sometimes speaker role
are not suitable for the opposition.

7.4. Opposition Bench Ignored:

The main opposition party members' notices relating to matters of general public interest and
notices relating to matters of urgent public importance, etc. had in many cases, been disallowed
by the Speaker. In every parliament we seen that our opposition could not join the assembly.

7.5. Boycotting Parliament Session:

Prolonged boycott of the Parliamentary session by the Opposition parties has become an
endemic problem in the parliamentary politics. It is very common in our country. Thats why
the opposition party could not influence the decision making.

7.6. Quorum Crisis:

According to the Constitution, if 60% or above MPs are not present the parliamentary session
could not be held. After the 15th session of the Eight Parliament, the parliamentary sessions
have been facing the quorum crisis. It is alleged that most of the parliamentarians, irrespective
of their party affiliations, have less or no eagerness to join the parliamentary sessions regularly.
Even passing of the Bills and opening of sessions without quorum have been a common
phenomenon.

7.7. Ineffective Legislature:

The story of the role of the legislative body in Bangladesh is not palatable. Constitutionally, the
Parliament was the only authority to make a law or unmake a law, but in practice, it could
hardly exert or ascertain its constitutional position. Since 1972 the Parliament has been under
the grip of the leadership of the party in power. However, if the lawmakers are not allowed to
speak for the people who elected them, parliamentary democracy or rule by the will of the
peoples representatives will remain remote possibility.
7.8. Lack of Democracy in Party Politics:
Like other modern states, Bangladesh has political parties but it failed to develop a party
system. There are many political parties, big and small, but there is hardly any emotional or

psychological attachment of the people with a particular party or some parties on the basis of
which some concrete rules of political behavior may be discerned. Many political parties came
into being as a result of either splits in their ranks or an alliance of various contending factions.

7.9. The Backbenchers influence:

Members of a Parliament who are not the members of the Cabinet or some Opposition
members of a party usually occupy backbenchers' seats may be termed as 'Backbenchers'. They
also influence the democratic order of the government.

7.10. Lack of Trust and Respect:

There is no trust and respect among the political parties in Bangladesh. They often blamed
each other. But they could not come forward to solve the problem. The opposition only stands
side and talks to done the work by the government. Thats why democracy cannot give the
result in our country.

8. Conclusion:
After a protracted movement for more than a decade, people of Bangladesh were able to defeat
the army autocracy and return to much-coveted parliamentary governance in 1991. But after
the passing of 20 years we cannot achieve the success of democracy. These happened because
we have some limitations. These are:- sound system of education, enlightened citizenship, lack
of political awaking, week law and order, minimum sprit of co-operation, decentralization of
power and local self government, sound party system etc. They are committed to establish
participatory-democracy through free and fair elections. If we can minimize those limitations
we can able to achieve the success of democracy and able to achieve the main reason of
liberation war.

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Reference:
1. R. C. Agarwal, Political Theory, 18th Edition, P-264.
2. R. C. Agarwal, Political Theory, 18th Edition, P-264.
3. Bryce, Modern Democracy, Vol-1, P- 20.
4. Seely, Introduction to Political Science, P- 324.
5. R. C. Agarwal, Political Theory, 18th Edition, P- 265.
6. Hearnshaw, Democracy of the Crossways, P- 17 to 22.
7. Dr. M. Nazrul Islam, Two Decades of Democracy in Bangladesh (19912010): Disillusionment with Practice.

8. Bangladesher Nirbachan 1970-2001 by A S M Samsul Arefin, Bangladesh

Research and Publications, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2003, P- 23 to 40.

9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Bangladesh#Ninth_General_Election
.2C_2008.

10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy.
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_system.

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