As President in 1978, Rahman founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (popularly known by its abbreviation BNP). He reinstated multi-party politics, freedom of the press, free speech and free markets and accountability. He initiated mass irrigation and food production programmes, including social programmes to uplift the lives of the people. He initiated and founded the first Asian regional group known as SAARC. He improved Bangladesh's relations with the West and China, and departed from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's close alignment with India and the Soviet Union. Domestically, Rahman faced as many as twenty-one coup attempts for which trials were setup and many soldiers and officers of the Bangladesh Armed Forces were executed which were mostly claimed to be biased and false trials. He was criticized for passing the Indemnity Act and removing the ban on religion-based political parties.