Hussain Muhammad Ershad

Hussain Muhammad Ershad (1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi military officer, dictator and politician who served as the president of Bangladesh from 1982 to 1990.

He seized power as a result of a bloodless coup against President Abdus Sattar on 24 March 1982 (by imposing martial law and suspending the Constitution). He declared himself President in 1983, and subsequently won the controversial 1986 Bangladeshi presidential election. Despite claims to have legitimately won the 1986 election, many consider his regime as a military regime. Ershad founded the Jatiya Party in 1986 and became a Member of Parliament for JP in the constituency of Rangpur-3 in 1991, with successful re-elections in all subsequent general elections. He was the longest serving male head of government in Bangladeshi history.

During his tenure, Ershad pursued devolution reforms, privatization of nationalised industries; the expansion of the national highway system; and the founding of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation; he committed his nation's forces as an ally to the United States in the Gulf War. He contributed to developments in infrastructure and socio-economic growth, divesting key nationalised industries. In 1989, Ershad pushed parliament to make Islam the state religion, in a sharp departure from Bangladesh's original secular constitution. Ershad was forced to resign as President following a popular mass uprising led by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina.