Bangladesh is governed by a multi-party parliamentary system of government. The executive power of the republic is exercised by or on the advice of the Prime Minister who commands the support of the majority members of Parliament and is appointed by the President. Other ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister nominates the cabinet members from among Parliament members and one-tenths of the total members are from outside of the Parliament. The cabinet is collectively accountable to the Parliament.

The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign republic comprising three basic organs; the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. The President is the Head of State and its elected by the members of parliament. The President acts in accordance with the advice of the Prime Ministers and the supreme command of the Armed Forces is vested upon the President.

THE LEGISLATURE

The Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad has 300 seats. All the members are directly elected. The tenure of the parliament is five years. The parliament is a sovereign body with a separate secretariat. The Speaker, along with the Deputy Speaker, Whips and panel of chairmen run the sessions of parliament. There are parliamentary standing committees for different ministries, which serve as parliamentary watchdogs over the activities of the government.

THE JUDICIARY

At the apex of the country’s judiciary stands the Supreme Court. It consists of the High Court Division and the Appellate Division. The Supreme Court serves as the guardian of the Constitution and enforces the fundamental rights of the citizens.

There are subordinate courts at district and upazila levels as well as special courts and tribunals such as the administrative tribunal, family courts, labour tribunal, land, commercial, municipal and marine courts, tribunals for checking repression on women and children and for speedy trail of cases related to terrorism.

THE EXECUTIVE

The elected Prime Minister and her cabinet members rule Bangladesh with the aid of a permanent bureaucracy. The ministers remain at the helm of ministries or divisions, which are manned by civil servants recruited by the Public Service Commission. The ministers perform regulatory policy-making functions while the numerous subordinate offices execute government policies and decisions at the field level.