Bangladesh: Political Trends and Key Players - Observer Research ...

ORF Strategic Trends
Political system
Bangladesh has a multiparty parliamentary political system. There are
over 100 political parties in the country but only four political parties
dominate the political scene: Bangladesh Awami League (AL);
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP); Jatiya Party (JP); and Jamaat-e-
Islami (JI). Among these, AL and BNP enjoy majority support of the
people and have alternatively formed the government since democracy
was restored in 1991. Other parties, JI and JP, have not formed any
government on their own but have enjoyed power by participating in
coalitions.
Bangladesh has a unicameral legislature. The Parliament known as
Jatiya Sangsad has 345 members, of which 300 are directly elected by
the people. The remaining 45 seats are reserved for women elected
through the process of proportional representation. The President is
the head of state, but in practice the executive power rests with the
office of the Prime Minister. The PM and the Cabinet are, however,
1
answerable to the Parliament.
The country is divided into seven administrative divisions: Barisal;
Chittagong; Dhaka; Khulna; Rajshahi; Sylhet; and Rangpur. Rangpur is
the newest division created in January 2010. In all, there are 64
districts across the country.
2
www.orfonline.org