H M Ershad
| Former President and Former Chief of Army Staff |
| Chief of Army Staff to Politician |
Full Name: Hussain Muhammad Ershad
Affiliation: Jatiya Party
Current Position: - Deceased
Date of Birth: February 1, 1930
Date of Death: July 14, 2019
Place of Birth: Bangladesh
Home District: Rangpur
Constituency: 21, Rangpur-3
Term: Fifth (5th-1991, 7th-1996, 9th-2008, 10th-2014, 11th-2018)
Nationality: Bangladeshi
Profile:
Hussain Muhammad Ershad (1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi politician who previously served as Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh Army and later as CMLA 1982 -1986. His rise to the Presidency was in the exact same manner of his predecessor Major General Ziaur Rahman; H M Ershad being elected President of Bangladesh 1986 - 1991. He is a United Nations Laureate and won the parliamentary elections five times after being toppled from the presidency. Although commonly termed as an autocratic military dictator his popularity remained; even when in prison awaiting trial, Ershad won the Parliamentary Elections from five different constituencies twice - in the elections of 1991 & 1996. In 2009 he formed a "Grand Alliance" against the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) Four-Party Alliance and became the first Bangladeshi politician to apologize publicly for all wrong doings of the past and asked for forgiveness. The Grand Alliance (Mohajote) won the elections in December 2008 and HM Ershad became a Member of Parliament once again.
Despite of all the ethical dilemma and corruption surrounding him, Hussain Muhammad Ershad did manage to leave behind a legacy of developments in infrastructure, socio-economic growth and brought stability to Bangladesh's Armed Forces.
The 2014 Election was a controversial election for Jatiya Party where Ershad's spokesperson Bobby Hajjaj had first publicly declared that Jatiya Party would not participate in the election. After the 2014 election, Ershad became the special envoy of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the Awami League-led government. Jatiya Party became the opposition party and Rowshan Ershad, Ershad's wife, became the leader of the opposition. Despite being in the opposition party some leaders of Jatiya Party were also in the government cabinet. In January 2016, Ershad's brother, GM Quader, was made the vice chairman of the party. In April 2016, Ershad appointed Rowshan as the vice-chairman of the party. In March 2017, Ershad indicated he might form a new political alliance with 14 other parties. For the next general election, the Jatiya Party under Ershad formed a 58 party grand alliance of its own. But of the 58 parties, only the Jatiya Party and Bangladesh Islami Front had registration with the election commission as of 2017.
Ershad was admitted to Combined Military Hospital, Dhaka on 26 June 2019 and on June 29 after his condition suddenly deteriorated. He died on 14 July 2019 at the hospital. His state funeral was celebrated 2 days later.
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