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| 1981, May 30 |
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| Pres. Zia was assassinated. A presidential election selected the ailing Abdus Sattar to replace him. Within a year, this weak arrangement prompted a coup; Gen. Ershad became martial law administrator in Bangladesh. By the end of the year, Ershad proclaimed himself president of Bangladesh. | 1 |
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| 1984 |
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| Talks occurred concerning the relaxation of martial law. | 2 |
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| 1985 |
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| Although a general election was announced for April, in March Ershad banned all political activity and canceled the election. A referendum in support of the presidency was held instead. In the fall, a new five-party alliance was created to promote government policies. | 3 |
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| 1986 |
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| The ten-month ban on political activity was revoked, and Ershad's Jatiya Party won the parliamentary election. The National Front became the Jatiya Dal (National Party). In a presidential election fraught with violence and intimidation, Ershad defeated Mujib's daughter, Sheik Hasina Wajed. Through 1987 a stalemate resulted, in which the opposition could not defeat Ershad, and Ershad could not succeed in legitimating his regime. | 4 |
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| 1988, Jan |
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| Clashes between agitators and police marred local elections to the Union Parishads (150 people were killed) and the general elections in March. The opposition succeeded in convincing many voters to boycott the elections, although Ershad won reelection. In April, Ershad repealed the state of emergency, and in July protests resumed. | 5 |
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| Sept |
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| Monsoon floods hit on a massive scale. Emergency supplies and development aid contracts flowed in behind the floodwaters. One dramatic result, the megaproject known as the Bangladesh Flood Alteration Plan, put the World Bank in charge of a group of 15 donor countries coordinating the construction of nearly 5,000 mi. of embankments along Bangladesh's three major rivers. The controversial scheme has since brought into question all of the fundamental assumptions underlying development aid. | 6 |
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