Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is one of the largest Bangladeshi political parties. Late president Ziaur Rahman formed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Chairperson begum Khaleda Zia leads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) website contains information about the constitution, Bangladesh politics, Bangladesh political party, Bangladesh election, Bangladesh history.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) one of the leading political parties in Bangladesh. It was established on 1 September 1978 by President Ziaur Rahman. With a view to civilianizing his regime, Ziaur Rahman initiated a 19-point program of action on 30 April 1977. When General Ziaur Rahman decided to contest for the Presidency, a nationalist front called Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal was formed in 1978 under his patronage with
Vice-President Justice Abdus Sattar as its convenor.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has held power in Bangladesh for five separate terms. Amongst its leaders, four have become President of Bangladesh and two have become Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Within the party, power has remained exclusively in the hands of the Zia family, with Begum Khaleda Zia leading the party
since the assassination of Ziaur Rahman, her husband and the party’s founder.
Since its tenure in power from 2001 to 2006, the BNP has faced huge controversy with accusations of unbridled corruption from the Bangladeshi media. Hundreds of its leaders, including Khaleda Zia, her sons as well as dozens of its former ministers and lawmakers were arrested on corruption charges by the military-backed Caretaker government of Bangladesh during the 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis. The party has also been accused of turning a blind eye to the growth of militant Islamic extremism in the country and for allying itself with Islamic fundamentalist parties, such as the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which had also opposed the independence of Bangladesh.
When BNP was established as a political party, the nation was a divided one, divided not only on the basis of political ideology, earmarked as a right, center, and left, but also on the basis of participation in the war of liberation marked as pro-liberation and anti-liberation forces. As a consequence, all such social forces as the students and teachers, intellectuals and professionals, cultural elite, and academics stood divided. The bureaucrats and even the military were affected by the schism. One of the objectives of BNP was to heal this national divisiveness and work as a cementing force among the warring groups and factions so that the nation can work as one organic whole.
The BNP promotes a very center-right policy combining elements of conservatism, corporatism, nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, and anti-communism. It is more popular among the country’s business class, military, and conservatives. The party believes that Islam is an integral part of the socio-cultural life of Bangladesh, and favors Islamic principles as well as cultural views. This is clearly seen through its alliance with the Islamic party of Jamaat.
In the 1991 general elections that followed, BNP emerged as the single largest party securing 140 seats in the Parliament and formed the government. The BNP government took initiative in re-introducing the parliamentary system of government in Bangladesh. In the general elections of 2001, the BNP-led 4-party alliance won a landslide victory winning more than two-thirds in the Parliament and formed the government.