1986 Bangladeshi general election

1986 Bangladeshi general election

7 May 1986

300 of the 330 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad
151 seats needed for a majority
Registered47,305,886
Turnout61.10% ( 9.81pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader H. M. Ershad Sheikh Hasina
Party JP(E) AL
Leader's seat Did not contest Dhaka-10
Last election 54 seats
Seats won 153 76
Seat change New 37
Popular vote 12,079,259 7,462,157
Percentage 42.34% 26.16%

Prime minister before election

Post vacant

Prime Minister after election

Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury
JP(E)

General elections were held in Bangladesh on 7 May 1986. A total of 1,527 candidates contested the elections. The result was a victory for the Jatiya Party, which won 153 of the 300 directly elected seats. Voter turnout was 61%. Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the winner of the previous elections, boycotted the election.

British observers including a journalist termed the elections a "tragedy for democracy" and a "cynically frustrated exercise".