Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Encyclopedia
The Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the Head of the Government of Bangladesh. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet (consisting of all the ministers, who are government department heads) are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Jatiya Sangsad Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate. The current Prime Minister, Hasina Wajed, was elected on December 29, 2008. She and her cabinet was appointed on 6 January 2009 by the Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed, head of the Interim Caretaker Government of Bangladesh.

Appointment of the Prime Minister

According to the Constitution the Prime Minister is appointed by the President based upon the result of the electorates choice in parliamentary general election held by the Election Commission. The Prime Minister will be the leader of the majority party (or coalition) in the Jatiya Sangsad and must have the confidence of the Jatiya Sangsad to govern. The cabinet is composed of ministers selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president. At least 90% of the ministers must be MPs. The other 10% may be non-MP experts or "technocrats" who are not otherwise disqualified from being elected MPs. According to the constitution, the president can dissolve Parliament upon the written request of the prime minister.

Duties of the Office

The office of the Prime Minister is located at Tejgaon in Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...

 city. It is considered a ministry of the government and among other duties, provides clerical, security, and other support to the prime minister, governs intelligence
Bangladeshi intelligence community
The Bangladeshi intelligence community consists of several intelligence agencies charged with carrying out espionage, counter-espionage and other functions vital for the national security of Bangladesh...

 affairs, NGOs, and arranges protocol and ceremonies.

Change of government

In September 1991, the electorate approved changes to the constitution, formally creating a parliamentary system and returning governing power to the office of the prime minister, as in Bangladesh's original constitution. In October 1991, members of parliament elected a new head of state, President Abdur Rahman Biswas.

Khaleda Zia (BNP)

Khaleda Zia served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh three consecutive times, since 1991.
Once in power, Khaleda Zia's government made substantial changes in education policy, introducing compulsory free primary education, free education for girls up to the 10th grade, a stipend for female students, and food for education programme. It also increased the age limit for entry into the civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

 from 27 years to 30 years and made highest budgetary allocation in the education sector.

She became Prime Minister for the second consecutive term after the BNP had a landslide victory in 15 February 1996 general election to the sixth Jatiya Sangsad. The election was, however, boycotted by all other major parties who were demanding that the elections be held under a neutral caretaker government, following allegations of rigging in a by-election held in 1994. Turnout was estimated at around 5%, though the government at the time claimed it to be much higher. In the 12 June 1996 polls, BNP lost to Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina is a Bangladeshi politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Awami League, a major political party, since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh and widow of a reputed nuclear...

's Awami League but emerged as the largest opposition party in the country's parliamentary history with 116 seats.

Aiming to return to power, the BNP formed a four-party alliance on 6 January 1999 with its former political foe the Jatiya Party, and the Islamic party of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and the Islami Oikya Jot and launched several agitation programmes against the ruling Awami League. In the 2001 general elections BNP
Bangladesh Nationalist Party
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party , commonly referred to as the BNP, is the mainstream center-right political party in Bangladesh. BNP ruled Bangladesh total 18 years since her independence, the longest than any other party in Bangladesh...

 won the election with a two-third majority of seats in parliament and 46% of the vote (compared to the principal opposition party's 40%) and Khaleda Zia was once again sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

In 2008 election, they faced a landslide defeat. Khaleda led islamic alliance won only 32 seats and emerged as the smallest oppisition party in the country's parliamentary history. They only won 32% of the vote where their main rival AL won 50 percent of the total vote.

Sheikh Hasina (AL)

Awami League won 146 seats in the 1996 parliamentary elections. The support of the Jatiya Party and a few independent candidates were enough for the 150 or more seats needed for the required majority. Hasina took the oath as the prime minister of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

. She vowed to create a Government of National Unity. Though some smaller parties and a few individuals from BNP did join the government, the distance between the main two political parties (as well as their leaders) remained as large as ever.

The Awami League succumbed to a landslide defeat in the 2001 Parliament elections. It won only 62 seats in the Parliament, while the Four Party Alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party
Bangladesh Nationalist Party
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party , commonly referred to as the BNP, is the mainstream center-right political party in Bangladesh. BNP ruled Bangladesh total 18 years since her independence, the longest than any other party in Bangladesh...

 won more than 200 seats, giving them a two-third majority in the Parliament. Hasina herself was defeated from a constituency in Rangpur, which happened to contain her husband's hometown, but won from three other seats. Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League rejected the results, claiming that the election was rigged with the help of the President and the Caretaker government. However, the international community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...

 was largely satisfied with the elections and the Four Party Alliance went on to form the government.

In December 2008 election, Sheikh Hasina's party won 230 seats giving them the two-third majority in the parliament. She made an alliance with JP and left fronts and her grand alliance won 252 seats in the parliament. Sheikh Hasina took oath as Prime Minister on 6 January 2009.

Political crisis

The scheduled 22 January 2007 elections were marred by controversy. The Awami League and its allies protested, saying that the elections would not be fair because of alleged bias by the caretaker government in favor of Khaleda Zia and the BNP. Hasina demanded that the head of the caretaker government, President Iajuddin Ahmed
Iajuddin Ahmed
-Early life:Ahmed was born in Bikrampur of Dhaka District, erstwhile Bengal province, British India . As the son of Moulvi Ibrahim Mia, Ahmed obtained his B.Sc. and M.S. at the University of Dhaka in 1952 and 1954 respectively and later received his M.S. and Ph.D...

, step down from that position, and on 3 January 2007, she announced that the Awami League and its allies would boycott the elections. Later in the month, the military led by Army Chief General Moinuddin Ahmed intervened and President Iajuddin Ahmed
Iajuddin Ahmed
-Early life:Ahmed was born in Bikrampur of Dhaka District, erstwhile Bengal province, British India . As the son of Moulvi Ibrahim Mia, Ahmed obtained his B.Sc. and M.S. at the University of Dhaka in 1952 and 1954 respectively and later received his M.S. and Ph.D...

 was asked to resign as the Chief Advisor. Also he was made to declare a state of emergency. A new military-controlled Caretaker government was formed with Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed as the Chief Adviser. The scheduled parliamentary election was postponed.

2007 interim caretaker government

On 12 January 2007, President Iajuddin Ahmed
Iajuddin Ahmed
-Early life:Ahmed was born in Bikrampur of Dhaka District, erstwhile Bengal province, British India . As the son of Moulvi Ibrahim Mia, Ahmed obtained his B.Sc. and M.S. at the University of Dhaka in 1952 and 1954 respectively and later received his M.S. and Ph.D...

 swore in Fakhruddin Ahmed
Fakhruddin Ahmed
Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed is a noted Bangladeshi economist, civil servant, and a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, the country's central bank...

 as the Chief Adviser to the Interim Caretaker Government. For a country widely perceived as one of the world's most corrupt, the most dramatic aspect of Fakhruddin Ahmed's rule is his antigraft campaign against the establishment. So far, more than 160 senior politicians, top civil servants and security officials have been arrested on suspicion of graft and other economic crimes. The roundup has netted former ministers from the two main political parties, including former prime ministers Khaleda Zia
Khaleda Zia
Begum Khaleda Zia is the former First Lady of Bangladesh , and then Prime Minister of Bangladesh, having served from 1991 to 1996, becoming the first woman in the country's history and second in the Muslim world to head a democratic government as prime minister. She served again from 2001 until...

 and Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina is a Bangladeshi politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Awami League, a major political party, since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh and widow of a reputed nuclear...

 and former adviser Fazlul Haque
Fazlul Haque
Justice M. Fazlul Haque is a former High Court judge of Bangladesh, who served as the Chief Advisor of the non-partisan caretaker government of Bangladesh for two days in 2007.-Caretaker government:...

.

See also

  • President of Bangladesh
    President of Bangladesh
    Since 1991, the President of Bangladesh is the head of state, a largely ceremonial post elected by the parliament. Since 1996, the President's role becomes more important after the term of the government has finished, when his executive authority is enhanced as laid down in the constitution of the...

  • Foreign Minister of Bangladesh
    Foreign Minister of Bangladesh
    The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh heads the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The current foreign minister is Dipu Moni, who has served since January 6, 2009.-List of foreign ministers:-See also:* Constitution of Bangladesh...

  • Caretaker government
    Caretaker government of Bangladesh
    The Caretaker Government of Bangladesh is a form of government system in which the country is ruled by a selected government for an interim period during transition from one government to another, after the completion tenure of the former. As the outgoing government hands over their power, the...

  • Politics of Bangladesh
    Politics of Bangladesh
    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...

  • Caretaker Government
    Caretaker government
    Caretaker government is a type of government that rules temporarily. A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government...

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