General elections were held in Bangladesh on 7 May 1986. A total of 1,527 candidates contested the election. The result was a victory for the Jatiya Party, which won 153 of the 300 seats. Voter turnout was 61.1%. Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the winner of the previous elections, boycotted the election. British observers including a journalist termed the elections a "tragedy for democracy" and a "cynically frustrated exercise".