Hussain Muhammad Ershad

On March 24, 1982, Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad seized power in a bloodless coup, suspending the constitution and imposing martial law. He cited corruption and economic mismanagement under the civilian government as justification.

Ershad founded the Jatiya Party in 1986 as his political vehicle to legitimize his rule. The party won parliamentary elections that year, though the polls were widely boycotted by opposition parties and criticized as rigged.

Faced with a massive pro-democracy uprising led by the Awami League and BNP, Ershad resigned on December 6, 1990. He handed power to a caretaker government, ending his eight-year military rule and restoring parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh.