List of political parties in Bangladesh

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This article lists political parties in People's Republic of Bangladesh.

Contents

Since the restoration of parliamentary democracy in 1991, Bangladesh has a fading two-party system, which means that two political parties dominate the general elections centrist Awami League (AL) and centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of another party.

Although the AL and BNP dominated Bangladeshi politics for a long time, the two are currently leading coalitions of like-minded parties, with the AL leading the left-of-centre parties and the BNP rallying the right-of-centre parties. [1]

A party is recognised as a registered party only if it fulfils one of the conditions listed below: [2]

  1. A party needs to secure at least one seat with its electoral symbol in two previous parliamentary elections.
  2. Securing of five percent of total votes cast in the constituencies in which its candidates took part in any of the aforesaid parliamentary elections.
  3. It needs to set up a functional central office, by whatever name it may be called with a central committee, having offices at least in one-third administrative districts, and offices at least in 100 upazilas or metropolitan thanas. And the party must have a minimum 200 voters as its members in each upazila.

Parties in the parliament prior to dissolution

2024BDelectionresults.svg

These were all of the political parties that held at least one seat in the Jatiya Sangsad. The 12th Jatiya Sangsad was dissolved on 6 August 2024. This is the state prior to the dissolution.

Alliances

Grand Alliance

The Grand Alliance (মহাজোট) is a coalition government in Bangladesh that formed in 2008 and consisted of the Bangladesh Awami League, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Workers Party and three other parties.

The Liberal Democratic Party left the Grand Alliance before the election and contested independently. It joined the 18 Party Alliance in 2012.

Left Democratic Alliance

The Left Democratic Alliance is an alliance of 8 Leftist Political parties including Communist Party of Bangladesh, Socialist Party of Bangladesh, Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, United Communist League Of Bangladesh, Ganatantrik Biplobi Party, Bam Gonotantrik Andolon and Ganosamhati Andolan. [6]

Major parties

Since 1991, due to the two-party system, two major parties, Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party constantly dominate the politics and form government.

Awami League

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Bangladesh Nationalist Party

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, abbreviated as BNP, was founded on 1 September 1978 by Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman, politician and physician A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury, human rights activist and lawyer Moudud Ahmed and leftist politician Mashiur Rahman as the key people. BNP has won the second, fifth, sixth and eighth national elections and two presidential elections, in 1978 and 1981 respectively. The party also holds the record of being the largest opposition in the history of parliamentary elections of the country with 116 seats in the seventh national election of 1996. [7] The party does not have any representation in the parliament after its boycott of the national election of 2014 which the party had termed a scandalous farce and was marked by a very low turnout. [8]

Registered parties

These are all the parties that are currently registered under Election Commission. [9] [10]

Reg. No.NameFoundedIdeologyLeaderPolitical positionMost MP's
1LDP Liberal Democratic Party
লিবারেল ডেমোক্রেটিক পার্টি
2006 Economic Liberalisation Oli Ahmed Centre 1 (2008)
2JP-M Jatiya Party (Manju)
জাতীয় পার্টি (মঞ্জু)
2014 Anwar Hossain Manju Centre-right 2 (2014)
3BSD-ML Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal
বাংলাদেশের সাম্যবাদী দল
Dilip Barua Left to Far-left 0
4KSJL Krishak Sramik Janata League
কৃষক শ্রমিক জনতা লীগ
1999 Bangabir Kader Siddique Centre left 1 (2001)
5CPB Communist Party of Bangladesh
বাংলাদেশের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি
1968Shah Alam Far-left 5 (1991)
6AL Bangladesh Awami League
বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগ
1949 Sheikh Hasina Centre left [lower-alpha 2] 306 (2020)
7BNP Bangladesh Nationalist Party
বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল
1978 Khaleda Zia Centre-right 278 (1996)
8GP Ganatantri Party
গণতন্ত্রী পার্টি
Secularism Md Arash Ali1 (2024)
9NAP National Awami Party
ন্যাশনাল আওয়ামী পার্টি
1967 Socialism Amina Ahmed 1 (1979, 1991)
10WPB Workers Party of Bangladesh
বাংলাদেশের ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি
1980 Rashed Khan Menon Far-left 6 (2014)
11BDB Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh
বিকল্পধারা বাংলাদেশ
2004 A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury Centre 2 (2018)
12JP-E Jatiya Party (Ershad)
জাতীয় পার্টি (এরশাদ)
1986 GM Quader Centre-right 251 (1988)
13JASAD Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal
জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল
1972 Socialism Hasanul Haque Inu Left-wing 8 (1979)
14Registration cancelled
15JSD Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal
জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল
2002 Socialism A.S.M Abdur Rab Left 4 (1986)
16ZP Zaker Party
জাকের পার্টি
Khaja Babaism Mustafa Amir Faisal Right wing 0
17SPB Socialist Party of Bangladesh
বাংলাদেশের সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল
1980Comrade Bazlur Rashid Firoz Left 0
18BJP Bangladesh Jatiya Party
বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় পার্টি
2001 Nationalism Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho Centre 4 (2001)
19BTF Bangladesh Tarikat Federation
বাংলাদেশ তরিকত ফেডারেশন
2005 Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari Right-wing 2 (2014)
20BKF Khilafat Andolan
বাংলাদেশ খেলাফত আন্দোলন
1981 Islamic democracy Mawlana Ataullah Right 0
21BML Bangladesh Muslim League
বাংলাদেশ মুসলিম লীগ
1906 Muslim nationalism Jubeda Kader Chaudhuri20 (1979)
22NPP National People's Party
ন্যাশনাল পিপলস্‌ পার্টি
Sheikh Salauddin Salu0
23JUI Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh
জমিয়তে উলামায়ে ইসলাম বাংলাদেশ
Islamic democracy Sheikh Zia Uddin0
24GF Gano Forum
গণফোরাম
1992 Secularism Kamal Hossain Centre 2 (2018)
25GF Gano Front
গণফ্রন্ট
1995 Secularism Jakir Hossain Left wing 0
26Registration cancelled
27BDNAP Bangladesh National Awami Party
বাংলাদেশ ন্যাশনাল আওয়ামী পার্টি
1971 Socialism Jobel Rahman Gani0
28BJP Bangladesh Jatiya Party
বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় পার্টি
M. A. Mukit0
29Registration cancelled
30IFB Islamic Front Bangladesh
ইসলামিক ফ্রন্ট বাংলাদেশ
Mujaddedism Bahadur Shah Mujaddedi0
31BKP Bangladesh Kallyan Party
বাংলাদেশ কল্যাণ পার্টি
Sayad Muhammad Ibrahim 1 (2024)
32IOJ Islami Oikya Jote
ইসলামী ঐক্যজোট
Islamic democracy Abul Hasnat Amini2 (2001)
33BKM Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish
বাংলাদেশ খেলাফত মজলিস
1989 Islamic democracy Habibur Rahman0
34IAB Islami Andolan Bangladesh
ইসলামী আন্দোলন বাংলাদেশ
1987 Syed Rezaul Karim 0
35BIF Bangladesh Islami Front
বাংলাদেশ ইসলামী ফ্রন্ট
1990 Sunni Sufism M.A. Matin0
36Registration cancelled
37BBWP Bangladesher Biplobi Workers Party
বাংলাদেশের বিপ্লবী ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি
2004Saiful Haq0
38KM Khelafat Majlish
খেলাফত মজলিস
1989 Islamic democracy Mawlana Mohammad Ishaq0
39Registration cancelled
40BML Bangladesh Muslim League
বাংলাদেশ মুসলিম লীগ
Muslim nationalism A.H.M. Kamruzzaman20 (1979)
41BSM Bangladesh Sanskritik Muktijot
বাংলাদেশ সাংস্কৃতিক মুক্তিজোট
Secularism Abdur Razzak Mullah0
42BNF Bangladesh Nationalist Front
বাংলাদেশ ন্যাশনালিস্ট ফ্রন্ট
2012 Secularism M.A. Abul Kalam Azad1 (2014)
43NDM Jatiotabadi Ganatantric Andolon
জাতীয়তাবাদী গণতান্ত্রিক আন্দোলন
2017 Bobby Hajjaj 0
44BC Bangladesh Congress
বাংলাদেশ কংগ্রেস
2013SecularismKazi Rezaul Hossain0
45Grassroots BNP Grassroots Bangladesh Nationalist Party
তৃণমূল বিএনপি
2015 Secularism Nazmul Huda 0
46Insaniyat Humanity Revolution Bangladesh
ইনসানিয়াত বিপ্লব বাংলাদেশ
2010 Humanitarian Allama Imam Hayat 0
47BDJSDBangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal- Bangladesh JASAD
বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল-জাসদ
2023 Socialism Sharif Nurul Ambia Left 0
48BNMBangladesh Nationalist Movement
বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী আন্দোলন
2023 Bangladeshi nationalism Abdur Rahman Center to Centre-right 0
49BSPBangladesh Supreme Party
বাংলাদেশ সুপ্রিম পার্টি
2023 Sufism (Maizbhandarism)Sayed Saifuddin Ahmed Right-wing 0
50AB PartyAmar Bangladesh Party
আমার বাংলাদেশ পার্টি
2020AFM Solaiman Chowdhury Right-wing 0
51GOP Gono Odhikar Parishad-GOP
গণঅধিকার পরিষদ-জিওপি
2021 Progressivism Nurul Haq Nur Centre 0
52NONagorik Oikko
নাগরিক ঐক্য
2012 Mahmudur Rahman Manna Left-wing 0
53GSA Ganosamhati Andolan
গণসংহতি আন্দোলন
2002 Egalitarianism Zonayed Saki Left-wing 0

Regional parties

NameFoundedIdeologyLeaderPolitical position
PCJSS Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti
পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম জনসংহতি সমিতি
1972 Autonomy of the indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Shantu Larma Left-wing
UPDF United People's Democratic Front
ইউনাইটেড পিপলস ডেমোক্রেটিক ফ্রন্ট
1998Autonomy of the indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill TractsPrasit Bikash Khisa Left-wing

Outlawed parties

NameFoundedIdeologyLeaderPolitical positionLegal statusNote
Maoist Bolshevik Reorganization Movement of the Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party 2001 Communism Maoism Far-left Outlawed [11] [12]
Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party 1971 Communism Maoism Anwar Kabir Far-left Banned [13]
Purba Banglar Communist Party 1968 Communism Maoism Tipu Biswas Far-left Banned [14]
Kuki-Chin National Front 2008 Autonomy of Kuki-Chin people Nathan Bom Banned [15] [16]

Unregistered parties

See also

Notes

  1. The Awami League has been accused of far-right authoritarianism since 2021. [3] [4] [5]
  2. The Awami League has been accused of far-right authoritarianism since 2021. [3] [4] [5]
  1. "Jatiya Party to contest the national polls with grand alliance | News Flash".
  2. কমিশনে রাজনৈতিক দলসমূহের নিবন্ধন আইন, ২০২০ [Commission Political Party Registration Act 2020](PDF). Election Commission of Bangladesh (in Bengali). 30 June 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  3. 1 2 Hossain, Akram; Mahmudul, Haque (19 October 2021). Survival Strategies of Jamaat as a Religion-Based Political Opponent in Bangladesh. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 105–123. doi:10.1007/978-981-16-4314-9_7. ISBN   978-981-16-4314-9. S2CID   239951371.
  4. 1 2 Khan, Q. M. Jalal (25 June 2021). President Ziaur Rahman: Legendary Leader of Bangladesh. Writers Republic LLC. ISBN   9781637285749.
  5. 1 2 Ruud, Arild; Hasan, Mubashar (18 October 2021). Masks of Authoritarianism Hegemony, Power and Public Life in Bangladesh. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. p. 112. ISBN   9789811643149.
  6. "Leftist parties form new Left Democratic Alliance as general election nears". bdnews24.com. 19 July 2018.
  7. "Bangladesh Election Results". Bangladesh Election Commission. 10 April 2008.
  8. "Bangladesh's ruling Awami League wins boycotted poll". BBC News. 6 January 2014.
  9. "Bangladesh Election Commission".
  10. "Bangladesh Election Commission".
  11. "5 killed in series of 'gunfights'". Prothomalo. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  12. Report, Star Online (2015-11-05). "3 killed in separate 'gunfights'". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  13. "Regional Information Base on Terrorism :: Terrorism news, Chronology, Organization Profiles". 2012-02-22. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  14. "Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) Terrorist Group, Bangladesh". www.satp.org. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  15. "Who are these Kuki-Chin armies in the CHT?". 2023-04-10. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  16. "In Chattogram Hill Tracts, a new group of armed insurgents is making waves. Who are they?". 2024-05-02. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  17. "নতুন দল বাংলাদেশের সাম্যবাদী আন্দোলনের আত্মপ্রকাশ (English: Public Appearance of New Party Communist Movement of Bangladesh)". Bangla News 24. 3 April 2021.

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References