The Jatiya Sangsad (JS, ), constitutionally the House of the Nation and commonly the Sangsad, is the unicameral legislative body of Bangladesh.
The origin of the Jatiya Sangsad lies in the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh (1972–73), which was the first parliament of Bangladesh responsible for the promulgation of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Since 1981, Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, situated in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, has been hosting the sessions of the Jatiya Sangsad.
The current Sangsad contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for women. Elected occupants are called members of parliament (MPs). Elections to the body are held every five years, unless a Sangsad is dissolved earlier by the president of Bangladesh. The leader of the party, or coalition of parties, holding a majority of seats in Sangsad becomes the prime minister of Bangladesh and thus serves as the head of government. The president, the ceremonial head of state of Bangladesh, is chosen by the Sangsad. Article 70 bars any MP to vote against or switch his party.
It has been proposed to make the legislative body into a bicameral legislature, with a upper house named Senate to be established.
Terminology The Constitution of Bangladesh designates the official name of the legislature Jatiya Sangsad () in Bengali and House of the Nation in English. The term sangsad ( ), Bengali word for parliament, derives from the Sanskrit word (), while the Bengali word jatiya ( ) means "national", hence, the name "Jatiya Sangsad" translates as "national parliament". The legislature is commonly known as "Parliament" and often referred to simply as the Sangsad.
The term "Member of Parliament" (, abbreviated as "MP") refers to both the 300 elected members and the 50 nominated women members of the Sangsad. Members of Parliament are legally entitled to use the prefix "The Honourable" ().
Background
The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was established on 10 April 1972 in the aftermath of the Liberation War to prepare a democratic constitution and served as its first parliament as an independent nation. The Assembly approved the constitution on 4 November 1972, and it took effect on 16 December, the Victory Day of Bangladesh. The Constituent Assembly became the provisional parliament of Bangladesh until the first election under the new constitution took place in 1973.
Until 10 July 1981, the Constituent Assembly, along with the first and second Sangsads, held their sittings in the building that now houses the Prime Minister's Office, commonly referred to as the Old Sangsad Bhaban. The opening ceremony of the present parliament house was performed on 15 February 1982. The last session of the second Sangsad was held in the new house on 15 February 1982.
Powers and rights
The president of Bangladesh appoints a cabinet with the prime minister and other ministers from among the members. The prime minister must be a member of parliament, and so must at least 90% of the ministers. The president must appoint a prime minister who, in his reasoned opinion, commands the confidence of the majority of the House (Sangsad). The cabinet remains answerable to the Parliament and the president.
The president is elected by the Sangsad through open ballot voting. As a result, the opposition party seldom nominates a candidate and the governing party nominee is uncontested. Presidents including Mohammed Shahabuddin, Mohammad Abdul Hamid, Zillur Rahman, Iajuddin Ahmed, A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury and Shahabuddin Ahmed were all elected unopposed. The Sangsad can also impeach the president by a two-thirds majority.
The Sangsad can form any parliamentary standing committees as it sees fit such as for the purposes of examining bills, reviewing government policy and any other matter of public importance. The de facto power of the committees has always been nominal however; the de jure power too is ambiguous, especially after the Supreme Court ruled that it was not answerable to summons from parliamentary committees and senior civil servants rarely being brought before committees to answer for public administrative decisions.
In practice, the Sangsad has been regarded as a rubber stamp body as MPs cannot cross the floor, have free votes (vote against their party whip) or pass motions of no confidence due to Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. This article imposes ultra-strict party discipline on the chamber; any MP voting against their party automatically loses their seat. Political scientists, judges in the Supreme Court, public intellectuals, newspapers and journalists, civil rights activists and many members of parliament have demanded reform of the article.
Critics argue Article 70 tramples freedom of speech and freedom of conscience and is a violation of the constitution's fundamental rights. Additionally, it significantly limits the checks and balances on the prime minister, as there are few means by which s/he can be legally dismissed under the constitution or even held to basic scrutiny with repercussions. The Sangsad usually reflects the will of the government, not vice versa as in a well-functioning parliamentary democracy. The checks and balances then formed on the prime minister and their cabinet are by civil servants in the Bangladesh Administrative Service and the courts, which are usually too docile to challenge the executive.
Article 78 of the constitution provides immunity for the speeches, actions and votes of the members within parliamentary sessions, and so members are not answerable for any such actions to the courts. The parliament itself is vested with the power to provide indemnity to anybody in service of the nation under Article 46. This allowed the second parliament in 1979 to ratify the Indemnity Ordinance.
Organisation Parliamentary groups The parliamentary groups of the Jatiya Sangsad are groups of members of parliament organised by a political party or coalition of parties. The leadership of each groups consists of a parliamentary party leader, deputy leader, whips and a parliamentary working committee. The size of a group determines the extent of its representation on legislative committees, the time slots allotted for speaking, the number of committee chairs it can hold, and its representation in executive bodies of the parliament. Current composition Government coalition Leader of the House; the post is usually held by the prime minister Deputy Leader of the House (who leads the day-to-day business of the government in the Sangsad) Chief Whip (who is supported by six additional whips) Official opposition Leader of the Opposition Deputy Leader of the Opposition Chief Whip of the Opposition
Executive bodies
The Sangsad's executive bodies include the speaker, the House Committee and the Parliament Secretariat. The House Committee consists of the parliament speaker, deputy speaker and whips. Every major political party appoints a whip who is responsible for the party's discipline and behaviour of its members on the floor of the house. The committee is the coordination hub, determining the daily legislative agenda and assigning committee chairpersons based on parliamentary group representation. The Parliament Secretariat, headed by a senior secretary from the Bangladesh Administrative Service, is in charge of all its supporting and advisory duties such as keeping a record of members' voting, speeches, advising on protocol, general clerical, broadcasting and information activities. Current composition Speaker Deputy Speaker House Committee Parliament Secretariat
Committees Most of the legislative work in the Sangsad is done in the standing committees, which exist largely unchanged throughout one legislative period. The Sangsad has several committees, with small numbers of members appointed to deal with particular topics or issues. The Committees on Ministry (CoM) are committees that are set down under the Sangsad's standing orders. The number of Committees in the Ministry approximates the number of ministries of Bangladesh, and the titles of each are roughly similar (e.g., defence, agriculture, and labour). There are, as of the current tenth parliament (2014–2019), 50 standing committees. The distribution of committee chairs and the membership of each committee reflect the relative strength of the various parliamentary groups in the house. Current committees Committee on Estimates Committee on Government Assurances Standing Committee on Public Accounts Library Committee Committee on Petitions Committee on Private Member's Bills and Resolutions Standing Committee of Privileges House Committee Business Advisory Committee Standing Committee on Rules of Procedure Committee on Public Undertakings 39 Committees on Ministry (CoMs)
Structures Building
The parliament is housed in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban (), located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. Designed by the American architect Louis Kahn, the building is one of the largest legislative complexes in the world, comprising . Louis Kahn designed the entire Jatiya Sangsad complex, which includes lawns, lake and residences for the MPs. The main building, which is at the centre of the complex, is divided into three parts – the Main Plaza, South Plaza and Presidential Plaza.
Library The Sangsad Library or Parliament Library claims to be the most comprehensive in Bangladesh, holding over 85,000 books and many more reports, parliamentary debates, government gazettes, journals, magazines and newspapers. The library is housed in Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The library was established in 1972, after the immediate formation of the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh to support the lawmakers and their staff. The library is administered by the parliamentary librarian, a statutory officer responsible for the control and management of the facility, reporting to the deputy speaker and the Library Committee. Although the library is open to the public, only current and former MPs, secretariat staff, and authorised researchers may check out books and materials.
Broadcasting
The Sangsad Bangladesh Television (publicly known as Sangsad TV) is a digital television channel in Bangladesh. It broadcasts parliamentary activity following its establishment under the Broadcasting Act 2011. Prior to the establishment of the Sangsad Television, the Sangsad's programming was produced by the Ministry of Information and relayed in its Bangladesh Television.
Constituencies
The maximum strength of the Sangsad envisaged by the Constitution of Bangladesh is 350, which is made up of the general election of 300 members to represent 300 parliamentary constituencies and 50 seats reserved for women, which are apportioned to elected party positions in the Sangsad. The electoral districts are referred to as the () in Bengali, which can be roughly translated as "electoral area", though the official English translation for the term is constituency.
The constituencies are arranged to coincide with the administrative districts of Bangladesh, distributed among the proportion to their population. Numbers may vary from two to twenty members per district. The seats are indicated with the district name suffixed by a number (e.g., Panchagarh-1 or Jessore-6). Each constituency is represented by a single MP, and is elected by the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.
Membership Article 66 of the constitution makes membership open to any citizen of Bangladesh and only to citizens above the age of 25; dual citizenship is possible for civilians in Bangladesh, but not for MPs who must not hold any other citizenship.