Politics of Bangladesh takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is the head of government and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Constitution of Bangladesh was written in 1972 and has undergone seventeen amendments.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is a major political party in Bangladesh. Founded on 1 September 1978 by Bangladeshi president Ziaur Rahman with a view of uniting people with a nationalist ideology, BNP later became one of the two dominant parties in Bangladesh, along with its archrival Awami League. Initially a big tent centrist party, it later moved towards more right-wing politics.
Begum Khaleda Zia is a Bangladeshi politician, who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and second female prime minister in the Muslim world, after Benazir Bhutto. She is the widow of one of the former President of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman. She is the chairperson and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since 1984, which was founded by her husband in 1978.
The prime minister of Bangladesh, officially prime minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is the chief executive of the government of Bangladesh. The prime minister and the cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate. The prime minister is ceremonially appointed by the president of Bangladesh.
The Jatiya Sangsad, often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women. Elected occupants are called members of Parliament, or MPs. The 12th national parliamentary election was held on 7 January 2024. Elections to the body are held every five years, unless a parliament is dissolved earlier by the President of Bangladesh. On 6 August 2024, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament after the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and ordered to form a interim government.
Hussain Muhammad Ershad was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the president of Bangladesh from 1982 to 1990.
Islami Jatiya Oikya Front was a short-lived political alliance in Bangladesh. Formed in 2001, it was one of the three principal contenders in that year's parliamentary elections. Led by the Jatiya Party (Ershad), it also included the Islami Shashontantra Andolan (ISA) and three smaller parties.
Bangladesh elects on national level a legislature with one house or chamber. The unicameral Jatiyo Sangshad, meaning national parliament, has 350 members of which 300 members are directly elected through a national election for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies while 50 memberships are reserved for the women who are selected by the ruling party or coalition. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. The president who is the head of the state is elected by the National Parliament. The president of Bangladesh is a ceremonial post and does not exercise any control over the running of the state.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 1 October 2001. The 300 seats of the Jatiya Sangsad were contested by 1,935 candidates representing 54 parties and 484 independents. The elections were the second to be held under the caretaker government concept, introduced in 1996.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 29 December 2008. The two main parties in the election were the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and the Bangladesh Awami League Party, led by Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awami League Party formed a fourteen-party Grand Alliance including Ershad's Jatiya Party, while the BNP formed a four-party alliance which included the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami. The election was originally scheduled for January 2007, but it was postponed by a military-controlled caretaker government for an extended period of time.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 12 June 1996. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Awami League, which won 146 of the 300 directly elected seats, beginning Sheikh Hasina's first-term as Prime Minister. Voter turnout was 75%, the highest to date. This election was the second to be held in 1996, following controversial elections held in February a few months earlier.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 3 March 1988. They were boycotted by several major parties, including the Bangladesh Awami League, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League, the National Awami Party (Muzaffar) and the Workers Party of Bangladesh. The result was a victory for the Jatiya Party, which won 251 of the 300 seats. Voter turnout was 52%.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 15 February 1996. They were boycotted by most opposition parties, and saw voter turnout drop to just 15%. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which won 278 of the 300 directly elected seats. This administration was short-lived, however, only lasting 12 days before the installation of caretaker government and fresh elections held in June.
The history of Bangladesh (1971–present) refers to the period after the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
A constitutional referendum was held in Bangladesh on 15 September 1991. Voters were asked "Should or not the President assent to the Constitution Bill, 1991 of the People's Republic of Bangladesh?" The amendments would lead to the reintroduction of parliamentary government, with the President becoming the constitutional head of state, but the Prime Minister the executive head. It also abolished the position of vice-president and would see the President elected by Parliament.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 5 January 2014, in accordance with the constitutional requirement that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the term of the Jatiya Sangshad on 24 January 2014.
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was another landslide victory for the Awami League-led Grand Alliance led by Sheikh Hasina. The elections were marred by violence, and were widely considered by opposition politicians and the international community to be rigged.
The National Unity Process is a political initiative in Bangladesh launched by Dr. Kamal Hossain, a long-standing proponent of a period of national unity government for political reform in the country. The initiative has received support from major opposition parties. The aim of the initiative has been to pressure the Awami League government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to hold a free and fair election in December 2018 with the participation of all major political parties. The previous general election in Bangladesh, held in 2014, was boycotted by major opposition parties and was not deemed credible by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United Nations.
General elections are expected to take place in Bangladesh following the overthrow of the government of Sheikh Hasina by student-led protests in 2024. A constituent assembly election will take place before the general elections, The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has established a Constitutional Reform Commission for this purpose.
General elections are held in Bangladesh to elect members of the Jatiya Sangsad, the unicameral national parliament. The Jatiya Sangsad consists of 300 members elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies and 50 seats reserved for women, which are allocated based on the proportional vote share received by parties. Elections are overseen by the Bangladesh Election Commission.
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