Military Take over by General Ershad and Constitutional Amendment in Bangladesh: A Modest Politico-Legal Study

Abstract

General H.M.Ershad grabbed state power by military coup. He prolonged his reign by introducing self style democracy. In doing so he tried his best to create a better image by resorting to different people oriented activities. But his political ambition faced huge challenge from the opposition. The regime succeeded to manipulate opposition movement and persuade all political parties except BNP to take part in third parliamentary polls and thus managed to gain constitutional sanction of her reign. But the regime did never get any approval and sympathy from BNP led by Khaleda Zia. This article is intended to show the process of confidence building of the regime, how political motives were injected through its programs, how did it manipulate opposition movement and attain recognition of its actions.

Keywords: Martial law, Democratic Rule, Opposition Movement, Dialogue, Election, Neutral Government, Political Alliance.