Abstract

In the Constitutional history of Bangladesh the fifth parliamentary election is a milestone to re-affirm the democracy. The election was a distinctive one for a special reason for the first time in Bangladesh as held under a neutral caretaker Government. In democratic systems around the world the state bureaucracy and the Election Commission conduct general election, which operates under political parties in power. In Bangladesh, however, the system of election under the Government run by a political party miserably failed to achieve the trust of the people, particularly the opposition parties. In view of these experiences a mechanism of holding general election under a non-party caretaker Government has been evolved in Bangladesh. The caretaker Government was first introduced after the fall of H. M. Ershad by the end of 1990 through a mass revolution.