Before proceed please learn about the Government System in Bangladesh.
Legislative assembly is one of the three departments of the government. Legislative assembly is known as National Parliament. It is a single-house parliament. The Number of members 350. Among these, 300 members are directly elected by public vote. Rest of the seats are reserved for the women. The locality based women members are selected by the 300 elected members of the parliament. But, the women can be elected through direct contest in the three hundred seats of the parliament.
There is a speaker and a deputy speaker in the parliament. They
are elected by the Members of the Parliament. Their duty is to conduct the
sessions of the parliament. The tenure of the parliament is five years. But,
the president can dissolve the parliament with the advice of the prime minister
at any time. The two sessions of the parliament should be held within sixty
days. A parliamentary session can be operated in presence of a quorum of 60
members. Prime minister is the leader of the parliament. The leader of the
party winning second position as per number of seats holding in the election
acts as the leader of the opposition. The parliamentary jobs are performed
through forming various committees. The parliament membership is cancelled if a
member remains absent from the parliament session for 90 days in a row.
The parliamentary election is held every five years. Any citizen
of Bangladesh aged 25 or above can be elected as the member of the parliament.
But, a person becomes ineligible to be a member of the parliament, if he is
declared bankrupt or insane by the court, takes citizenship of any other
country, or if he has been sentenced to imprisonment by the court.
Work: Make a concept map on the board about the structure of the national
parliament.
Power and Functions of National Parliament:
The power and functions of national parliament are as follows:
1. National parliament of Bangladesh has all the rights to draft
and approve laws in the country. The parliament can make any new law, amend the
existing laws. To pass a new law it has to be brought to the parliament as a
draft bill. It becomes a law if approved by the majority of the parliament
members.
2. The parliament controls the administrative division. Prime
minister and the members of the cabinet are accountable to the parliament. The
cabinet dissolves if the parliament brings a no-confidence proposal on the
prime minister. The national assembly takes control over the administrative
department through questions, censure adjournment motion, no-confidence motion
and discussion. In this respect, the opposition party plays a very important
role.
3. National parliament is the protector of the fund of the
state. No tax is imposable and receivable without the approval of the
parliament. Parliament approves the budget every year. Finance Minister places
the draft budget to the parliament. The members of the parliament approve that
on the basis of long discussions and amendment.
4. The national parliament has judiciary power. If any members
behave against the code of conducts of the parliament, the speaker can send him
out of the session. The parliament can also draw a no-confidence bill in the
parliament against the speaker, deputy speaker, prime minister, cabinet and the
president for their breach of constitution of the state and remove them from
the concerned office.
5. The parliament can amend the constitution on the basis of the
rules mentioned in the constitution. In this case it requires votes of at least
two-thirds of the parliament members.
6. The members of the parliament elect the speaker, deputy
speaker and members of various parliamentary committees. They also elect the
women members against the reserved seats. They elect the president of the
country too.
Bangladesh has a parliamentarian government. Parliament is the
center of all the national activities of the country. Honest and eligible
members are desired for making the parliament successful and effective. It is
also necessary to have a strong and responsible opposition party. We should be
conscious to elect honest and eligible candidates. It is a holy duty of every
citizen in the country to elect eligible members of the parliament for the
welfare of the nation.