Jatiya Sangsad
Jatiya Sangsad জাতীয় সংসদ | |
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Ghulam Muhammed Quader, JaPa (E) since 28 January 2024 | |
Deputy Leader of the Opposition | |
Structure | |
Seats | 350 |
Political groups | Government (271)
Confidence and supply (2) Opposition (76)
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Elections | |
Not before January 2029 | |
Meeting place | |
Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Bangladesh | |
Website | |
www |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |
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Bangladesh portal |
The Jatiya Sangsad (
The leader of the party (or alliance of parties) holding the majority of seats becomes the
Etymology
The Constitution of Bangladesh designates the official name of the legislature Jatiya Sangsad (জাতীয় সংসদ) in Bengali and House of the Nation in English. The term Sangsad (Bengali pronunciation: [ˈbːsɔŋsɔdɔ]), a Bengali word for "Parliament", derives from the Sanskrit word saṃsada (lit. 'gathering' or 'assembly'). The Bengali word Jatiya means National, hence, the name Jatiya Sangsad translates to National Parliament. The legislature is commonly known as Parliament and often referred to simply as the Sangsad or JS.
The term "
History
The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was established on 10 April 1972 after the Bangladesh Liberation War to prepare a democratic constitution and served as its first parliament as an independent nation. The assembly approved the constitution on 4 November 1972, and it took effect on 16 December[3] and the Constituent Assembly became the Provisional Parliament of Bangladesh until the first elections under the new constitution took place in 1973.
Until 10 July 1981 the Constituent Assembly, and the first and second parliaments held their sittings in the building that now houses the Prime Minister's Office and which is often referred as the old Sangsad Bhaban (old Parliament House). The opening ceremony of the present Parliament House was performed on 15 February 1982. The last session of the second parliament was held in the new house on 15 February 1982.[4]
Constituencies
The maximum strength of the Parliament envisaged by the
Membership
Article 66 of the Constitution makes membership open to any citizen of Bangladesh and only to citizens above the age of 25; dual citizenship is possible for civilians in Bangladesh, but not for MPs who must not hold any other citizenship.[5]
Members are elected by direct polling in their respective constituencies. Whoever wins the most votes, regardless of turnout or proportion, wins the election. Members are elected for a term of five years,[5] with the entire Parliament dissolving five years after the swearing-in. Members can be re-elected indefinitely, and so have no term limits. They may be independent or affiliated with a political party.
Members must not have served time in prison for more than two years to be eligible, unless they served this period five years prior to the general election date.[5]
Article 67
Floor crossing
Article 70 of the
- Resignation from the political party that nominated the member,
- Voting against the nominating party, or
- Abstaining from voting, either by abstention or absence and against the directive of the party Whip.
The only case of floor crossing in Bangladeshi history due the stringent article was when members
Debate about the provision
As most candidates are elected by the funding, support and brand name of the party, and resignation from the party is considered to void the choice of the people.[6] The prime objective of banning floor crossing is to prevent members from joining other parties for personal gains or to induce disloyalty.[6] This is crucial in marginal majorities, where a few members voting against the majority essentially changes the government party in power causing political instability.[6]
The negative effects are broad however such as stopping members from speaking out against bad policies pitched by their party or voting against their party on legislation.[6] This is considered harmful for parliamentary democracy, as the ban forces members to agree with their party leaders regardless of their own opinions or the opinions of their constituents.[6]
Double membership
Article 71 of the Constitution allows eligible people to be candidates in more than one constituency.[5] However, if elected from multiple seats, the member must vacate all but one seat.[8]
It is usually the custom for prominent politicians, especially party leaders to stand in multiple constituencies.
Powers and rights
The president of Bangladesh appoints a cabinet with the prime minister and other ministers from among the members.[5] The prime minister must be a parliamentarian, and so must at least 90% of the ministers.[10][11] The president must appoint a prime minister who, in his reasoned opinion, commands the confidence of the majority of the House.[11] The cabinet remains answerable to the Parliament at all times, and the prime minister also to the president as well.[5]
The president of Bangladesh is elected by the Parliament through open ballot voting.[12] As a result, the opposition party seldom nominates a candidate and the governing party nominee is uncontested. Current President Abdul Hamid and previous presidents Zillur Rahman,[13] Iajuddin Ahmed,[14] A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury[15] and Shahabuddin Ahmed[16] were all elected unopposed. The Parliament can also impeach the president by a two-thirds majority.[5]
The Parliament can form any parliamentary standing committees as it sees fit such as for the purposes of examining bills, reviewing government policy and any other matter of public importance.[5] The de facto power of the committees have always been nominal however; the de jure power too is ambiguous,[17] especially after the Supreme Court ruled that it was not answerable to summons from parliamentary committees and senior civil servants rarely being brought before committees to answer for public administrative decisions.[18]
Various drawbacks has hence led the parliament to be regarded as a
Article 78 of the Constitution provides immunity for the speeches, actions and votes of the Members within parliamentary sessions, and so members are not answerable for any such actions to the courts.
Past parliamentary election results
Organisation
Parliamentary groups
The parliamentary groups of the Jatiya Sangsad are groups of members of Parliament organised by a political party or coalition of parties. The leadership of each groups consists of a parliamentary party leader, deputy leader, whips and a parliamentary working committee. The size of a group determines the extent of its representation on legislative committees, the time slots allotted for speaking, the number of committee chairs it can hold, and its representation in executive bodies of the parliament.[19]
- Current composition
- Government coalition
- prime minister of Bangladesh
- Deputy Leader of the House (who leads the day to day business of the government in the Parliament)
- Chief Whip (who is supported by six additional whips)
- Official opposition
- Leader of the Opposition
- Deputy Leader of the Opposition
- Chief Whip of the Opposition
- Government coalition
Executive bodies
The Parliament executive bodies include the speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, the House Committee and Parliament Secretariat. The House Committee consists of the parliament speaker, deputy speaker and whips. Every major political party appoints a whip who is responsible for the party's discipline and behaviour of its members on the floor of the house. The committee is the coordination hub, determining the daily legislative agenda and assigning committee chairpersons based on parliamentary group representation. The Parliament Secretariat, headed by a senior secretary from the Bangladesh Administrative Service, is in charge of all its supporting and advisory duties such as keeping a record of members' voting, speeches, advising on protocol, general clerical, broadcasting and information activities.
- Current composition:
Committees
Most of the legislative work in the Parliament is done in the standing committees, which exist largely unchanged throughout one legislative period. The Parliament has a number of committees, with small numbers of members appointed to deal with particular topics or issues. The Committees on Ministry (CoM) are committees which are set down under the Parliament's standing orders. The number of Committees on Ministry approximates the number of
- Current committees:
- Committee on Estimates
- Committee on Government Assurances
- Standing Committee on Public Accounts
- Library Committee
- Committee on Petitions
- Committee on Private Member's Bills and Resolutions
- Standing Committee of Privileges
- House Committee
- Business Advisory Committee
- Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure
- Committee on Public Undertakings
- 39 Committees on Ministry (CoMs)
Structures
Parliament House
The parliament is housed in the
Louis Kahn designed the entire Jatiya Sangsad complex, which includes lawns, lake and residences for the members of the Parliament (MPs). The main building, which is at the center of the complex, is divided into three parts – the Main Plaza, South Plaza and Presidential Plaza.Sangsad Library
The Sangsad Library or Parliament Library claims to be the most comprehensive library in Bangladesh, holding over 85,000 books and many more reports, parliamentary debates, government gazettes, journals, magazines and newspapers. The library is housed in Sangsad Bhaban in Sher e Bangla Nagar, Dhaka. The library was established in 1972, after the immediate formation of the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh to support the lawmakers and their staff. The library is administered by the parliamentary librarian, a statutory officer responsible for the control and management of the facility, reporting to the deputy speaker and the Library Committee. Although the library is open to the public, only current and former members of Parliament, secretariat staff, and authorised researchers may check out books and materials.
Sangsad Television
The Sangsad Bangladesh Television (publicly known as Sangsad TV) is a digital television channel in Bangladesh. It broadcasts parliamentary activity following its establishment under a Broadcasting Act 2011. Prior to the establishment of the Sangsad TV, the Sangsad's programming was produced by the
See also
- List of members of the 12th Jatiya Sangsad
- Politics of Bangladesh
- List of acts of the Jatiya Sangsad
- List of legislatures by country
Notes
- Sirajul Islam, ed. (2012). "Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh" (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- Pranab Kumar Panday (2013). Women's Political Participation in Bangladesh: Institutional Reforms, Actors and Outcomes. Springer India. ISBN 978-81-322-1271-3.
- "Parliament Member of Bangladesh". Bangladesh Affairs.
References
- ^ a b "Name and Composition of Parliament". Bangladesh Parliament.
- ^ "New MPs take oath". The Daily Star. 9 January 2014.
- ^ Islam, Sirajul (2012). "Constitution". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ "History and Building". Parliament.gov.bd. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Bangladesh Constitution" (PDF). Parliament of Bangladesh.
- ^ a b c d e f Molla, M.A.S (24 April 2011). "Amending Article 70". The Daily Star.
- ^ "Mannan, Mahi quit BNP, Gen Nur Uddin AL". Bangladesh Web. 11 March 2004. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
- ^ a b "Bangladesh by-election win widens Hasina majority". Reuters. 2 April 2009.
- ^ "Bangladeshi parliamentary by-elections in Bangladesh end peacefully". SINA. 2 April 2009.
- ^ "TECHNOCRAT-MINISTERS 1972 clause set to be invoked". bdnews24.com. 5 April 2011.
- ^ a b "Bangladesh Government Information". Travel Document Systems, Inc. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ Chowdhury, Jashim Ali (6 November 2010). "Reminiscence of a lost battle: Arguing for the revival of second schedule". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012.
- ^ "Zillur all set to be president". The Daily Star. 9 February 2009.
- ^ Helal Uddin Ahmed. "Ahmed, Iajuddin". Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.
- ^ AM Chowdhury. "Chowdhury, AQM Badruddoza". Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.
- ^ Kazi Ebadul Hoque; Helal Uddin Ahmed. "Ahmed, Justice Shahabuddin". Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.
- ^ Islam, M Rafiqul (22 January 2011). "Sovereignty debate". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 15 January 2012.
- ^ "SC accountable to none". bdnews24.com. 19 January 2011.
- ^ "Key Person of Bangladesh Parliament". Parliament.gov.bd.
- ^ "Name of Committees for 10th Parliament (English)". Parliament.gov.bd.
- ^ "Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban". banglapedia.org.
- ^ "National Capital of Bangladesh Project Page". University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012.