The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the party of the incumbent military regime, which won 207 of the 300 directly elected seats, although it only won 41% of the vote.

[3][4] The Awami League became the main opposition party after winning 39 seats.

[6] The political opposition in Bangladesh intended to boycott the elections, unless the military regime the military regime withdrew martial law, assured that there would be a parliamentary system, released political prisoners, and restored full press freedom.

[6] Ziaur Rahman made some concessions to the opposition, but the fell short of their full demands.

[6] Subsequently some opposition parties decided to take part in the elections.