Member of Parliament | |
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![]() Emblem of the Jatiya Sangsad | |
![]() Flag of the Jatiya Sangsad | |
Parliament of Bangladesh | |
Style |
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Status | Dissolved |
Abbreviation | MP |
Member of | Jatiya Sangsad |
Reports to | Speaker |
Seat | Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban |
Term length | 5 years; renewable (unless earlier dissolved by President) |
Constituting instrument | Article 65 of Constitution of Bangladesh |
Formation | 7 March 1973 |
First holder | 1st Jatiya Sangsad |
Final holder | 12th Jatiya Sangsad |
Salary | ৳660000 (US$5,600) (excl. allowances) [1] |
Website | parliament.gov.bd |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of Bangladesh |
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A Member of Parliament (MP) in Bangladesh is a member of the unicameral legislature of Bangladesh, the Jatiya Sangsad or House of the Nation. A majority of members are elected directly in general elections, while a minority of seats are reserved exclusively for women and allocated on a proportional basis. The Constitution specifies that Parliament consists of 300 directly elected members, while 50 seats are reserved for women. [2] The individual who leads the largest party or alliance in parliament usually becomes Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The parliament is currently dissolved by order of the President until the next general election due to the result of the protests ousting the current government.
In order to qualify to stand for election to Parliament, an individual is required to be –
An individual is disqualified from standing for parliament in the event they –
A Member of Parliament serves until the dissolution of parliament, which can be no more than five-years after its first sitting. But in the event of a war, parliament can pass an Act of Parliament extending the parliamentary term by no more than a year at a time. Parliament must be in session within six months of the conclusion of a war. [3]
The broad responsibilities of members of parliament include –
Members of parliament are entitled to an annual salary of ৳660000 (US$5,600) as well as allowances. [1] This is in accordance with Article 68 of the Constitution which makes provision for remuneration, allowances and privileges for members. [6]
The Constitution specifies that Parliament consists of 300 directly elected members from general seats elected by use of first past the post who represent single-constituencies, while 50 seats are reserved exclusively for women and are allocated on a proportional basis. [7] After an election, the Election Commission allocates reserved seats to parties pursuant to the number of general seats they won. A party then presents a list of candidates, each requiring a presenter and a seconder. If the number of candidates presented and seats allocated is equal, then there is no election and the reserved seats are filled in accordance with the candidate lists prepared by parties. In the event there are more candidates than seat allocations, the 300 MPs elected from general seats vote through use of the single transferable vote system to determine the reserved seats. In reality, there has never been an election for reserved seats as parties have never nominated more candidates than they have been allocated. [8]
Members of Parliament were last elected at the 2024 general election.
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.
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often have a different title. The terms congressman/congresswoman or deputy are equivalent terms used in other jurisdictions. The term parliamentarian is also sometimes used for members of parliament, but this may also be used to refer to unelected government officials with specific roles in a parliament and other expert advisers on parliamentary procedure such as the Senate parliamentarian in the United States. The term is also used to the characteristic of performing the duties of a member of a legislature, for example: "The two party leaders often disagreed on issues, but both were excellent parliamentarians and cooperated to get many good things done."
The President of Bangladesh, officially the President of The People's Republic of Bangladesh, is the head of state of Bangladesh and commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces.
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.
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.
The Constitution of Bangladesh, officially the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the supreme law of Bangladesh. The document provides the framework that demarcates the Bangladeshi republic with a unitary, parliamentary democracy, that enshrines fundamental human rights and freedoms, an independent judiciary, democratic local government and a national bureaucracy.
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 27 February 1991. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) emerged as the largest party in parliament, winning 140 of the 300 directly elected seats. The BNP formed a government with the support of the Islamic party Jamaat-e-Islami, and on 20 March, Khaleda Zia was sworn in for her first term as Prime Minister.
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 74.96%, 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%.
The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh consisting the executive represented by the president, prime minister and cabinet. The legislature represented by the Jatiya Sangsad and the judiciary, represented by the Supreme Court. Bangladesh is a unitary state and the central government has the authority to govern over the entirety of the nation. The seat of the government is located in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
Ghulam Muhammed Quader, better known as GM Quader, is a Bangladeshi politician and the 2nd chairperson of Jatiya Party and Opposition Leader of Bangladesh Parliament. He is a former Jatiya Sangsad member from the Lalmonirhat-3 constituency. He served as the Minister of Commerce and Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism from 2009 to 2014.
The Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad is the presiding officer of the Parliament of Bangladesh. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the parliament following general elections by Members of Parliament. Serving for a term of five years, the speaker chosen from sitting members of the parliament, and is by convention a member of the ruling party or alliance.
The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 4 November 1972 and became effective on 16 December 1972 one year after Bangladesh's victory in the War of Liberation. As of 2018 the Constitution has been amended 17 times. The procedure for amendments is demarcated in Article 142, a bill must be presented in the Jatiya Sangsad with the support of no less than two-thirds of all its members . Amending the Constitution of Bangladesh is the process of making changes to the nation's supreme law.
Merina Rahman is a Bangladeshi Jatiya Party politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member from a reserved women's seat. She is the sister of former president of Bangladesh, Hussain Mohammad Ershad.
Since the independence of Bangladesh, the presidential election process has been changed several times due to both the presidential and parliamentary arrangements. According to the Second Schedule to the Constitution of 1972, the president of the parliament used to be elected by a secret vote. Later, according to the fourth amendment to the constitution, the provision of the direct election system of presidential election was introduced. But soon after 12th Amendment to the Constitution, the provision of presidential elections through an indirect election was introduced after the parliamentary system was installed. At present, the president is elected by an indirect election by the members of parliament as per Article 48 of the Constitution.
Salma Islam is a Bangladeshi lawyer, journalist, politician, and an incumbent MP from 12th parliament. She was an MP of Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad representing the Dhaka-1 constituency. She served as state minister of the Bangladesh government for Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. She is the Member of Presidium as well as current chair of Dhaka of Jatiya Party (Ershad). She has been made the new chairman of Jamuna Group after the death of her husband and the conglomerate's founder chairman Nurul Islam Babul.
Jatiya Sangsad Election Act, 2004 was an act of the Jatiya Sangshad, the parliament of Bangladesh, passed in 2004, creating reserved seats in the parliament of Bangladesh for women.