Contents
- Introduction
- Background
- Structure of Executive
- Current Executive Body
- Function of Executive
- The Status and Power of the President
- The Status and Power of the Prime Minister
- Limitation of the Executive
Introduction
The Government of People’s
Republic of Bangladesh is consisted of three branches.
- Executive Branch – Represented by the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Bangladesh
- Legislature Branch – Represented by the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament)
- Judiciary Branch – Represented by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Executive Branch
The Executive Branch regulates the governance of the
state, conduct official and administrative functions, maintains law and order
and implements overall resolutions of the state. In a greater sense, the
executive consists of all administrative employees including the President, the
Cabinet, the Government Officials, the Security, Law and Order maintaining agencies,
the Diplomats, the Officers and even a Chowkidar (a Village Watchman)
altogether.
Background
Executive under the
Proclamation of Independence (10 April, 1971)
- All powerful Presidential Executive
- President had both Executive and Legislative power
- President was powered to appoint the Prime Minister and other Ministers
- The power to summon and dissolve the assembly was with President
- Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was made the President of the Republic
- The Vice-President Syed Nazrul Islam was to exercise all the powers and fulfil all the duties in the absent of the President
Executive under the Provisional Constitution Order (11 January, 1972)
- Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proclaimed a provisional constitution order on 11 January, 1972 using his legislative power under the Proclamation of Independence. The Presidential form of Government was changed to the Parliamentary form of Government under this order.
- The key features of the order was as follows:
- There shall be a Cabinet of Ministers with the Prime Minister as the Head
- The President shall, in exercise of all his functions, act in accordance with the advise of the Prime Minister
- The President shall commission as Prime Minister a member of the Constituent Assembly who commands the confidence of the majority of the members of the Constituent Assembly.
- All other Ministers, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.
- 1972 Constitution – The key features of Executive in the Provisional Constitution (1972) was retained
- Fourth Amendment (1975) – The Presidential form of Government replaced the Parliamentary System, A one party system was introduced and the powers of the Jatiya Sangsad were curtailed.
- Fifth Amendment (1979) – The Presidential form of Government was retained, multi party system was revived. The President assumed the position of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces, chief executive and chief legislative initiator through his power to address the Jatiya Sangsad and dissolve it.
- Ninth Amendment (1989) – The type of executive with all powerful presidency was retained. The presidency tenure is restricted to two consecutive terms of five years each. The executive was more of a resemblance to that of the United States.
- Twelfth Amendment (1991) - Once again the Parliamentary Executive was restored and it retained all the executive features of 1972 constitution.
Part IV of the Constitution dealt with the Executive
Structure
The President
President serves as the Head of the State of the
Republic and is elected by members of the Jatiya Sangsad. President only act
with the advice of the Prime Minister, with the exception of the appointment of
the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice. The President has the
power to grant pardons and to commute or suspend the sentences of
individuals convicted in a court. The President is limited to serving two
5-year terms in office, regardless of whether they are consecutive or not.
The Prime Minister and The
Cabinet
The Prime Minister is the Head of the Cabinet. The
true executive power of the Republic is exercised by the Prime Minister. The
President appoints the Prime Minister among the member of the parliament who
appears to command the confidence of the Jatiya Sangsad. The other cabinet
members are selected by the Prime Minister and appointed by the President.
Local Government
Republic has democratically elected government in
every administrative unit. The powers exercised by the Local Government is
delegated by Parliament.
The Defence Service
The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed
forces of Bangladesh. Parliament by law provide for the
regulation of the defence services, including the maintenance of the defence
services, the grating of commissions, the appointment of chiefs of staff of the
defence services and the discipline and other matters relating to the defence
services. Parliament reserves the right to declare war.
The Attorney General
President appoints a Justice of the Supreme Court as
Attorney General. The Attorney General is entitled to attend
the proceedings of any courts in the Republic.
The function carried out by the executive branch of
the government are:
- Administrative
- Legislative
- Military Functions
- Foreign Relations
- Financial Functions
The President is the Head of the State according to
the constitution, and thus hold the highest status in the state. The President
takes precedence over all other persons in the state and exercises the powers.
Powers and Duties of President:
Appointments Powers:
- The prime minister and his/her Cabinet, with the limitation that the prime minister must be a parliamentarian who holds the confidence of the majority of the House. The president can also dismiss a member of Cabinet upon the request of the prime minister.
- The chief justice and other judges of the court.
- The Bangladesh Election Commission, including the chief.
Prerogative of Mercy:
The President has the
prerogative of mercy by the constitution, which allows him to grant a pardon to
anybody, overriding any court verdict in Bangladesh.
Parliamentary and Legislative Powers:
- The President summons the Parliament.
- The president can refuse to assent to any bill passed by the parliament and can send it back for review.
- A bill is enacted only after the President assents to it.
- But when the bill is passed again by the parliament, if the president further fail or refuse to assent a bill, after a certain period of days, the bill will be automatically transformed into law and will be considered as assented by the president.
- The President can adjourn and dissolve the parliament on the advise of the Prime Minister.
Chancellor at
universities:
The position of
chancellor at universities is always held by the president of the country under
the Private University Act 1992, although the position of chancellor in public
universities is not fixed for the president under any acts or laws, but it has
been a custom so far to name the President as Chancellor of all state
universities thus established.
Ordinance making Power:
The President can promulgate ordinance when it is
required immediate necessary action, and any of this promulgation will be
enforced as an Act of the Parliament.
Financial Powers and Functions:
The bill involves
expenditure from public money is introduced into the parliament only with the
recommendation of the President.
The expenditure from the
Consolidated Fund for supplementary or excess grants is authorized by the
President.
Proclamation of Emergency
Power:
In case of grave
emergency in which the security or economic life of Bangladesh, or any part
thereof is threatened by war or external aggression or internal disturbance,
the President can issue a Proclamation of Emergency, although such proclamation
requires its validity and a prior counter signature of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh is the head of the
Government in the Parliamentary form. He/She is the chief executive the
Government. He/She is the leader of the parliament, chief of the cabinet, and
appoints the council of the Ministers.
Administrative and Executive Powers:
- All types of executive powers are conducted and regulated by the Prime Minister in the name of the President.
- The prime minister appoints the Ministers and distributes offices among them.
- All actions relating to justice, finance, ministry of foreign affairs and administration of the government are conducted with the advice and views of the Prime Minister.
- The Prime Minister appoints the high government officials with the consent of the President.
Legislative Power:
Prime Minister plays a vital role to legislation. As
the patroniser of the ruling party, the legislative actions of the parliament
revolves around him/her.
Financial Powers:
The annual budget is
prepared by the Finance Minister with the advice and directive of the Prime
Minister. The financial policies of the Prime Minister reflect in the budget
presented by the Financial Minister.
The fund for meeting the
administrative expenditure is granted by the President with the advice of the
Prime Minister.
Role of Prime Minister as
the Principle Spokesman of the Nation:
- Acts as the Principle Spokesman of the Nation.
- Represents the country to the world.
- Informs the nation of any national crisis.
- Issues statement on behalf of the state.
The Executive Body of
Bangladesh has the following limitations:
• Prime
Minister oriented executive body.
• Highly
centralized government system.
• Highly
politicized government function.
• Ineffective
local government system.
• The
limited exercise of Presidential power.
• Lack
of proper practice of constitution.
• Corruption
in several government sectors.
• Improper
and Partial role of various organizations.
• Apathy
to change bureaucratic manner.
• Lack
of proper cooperation and coordination in several sectors.