Bangladesh flag Bangladesh: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Bangladesh

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Mohammad Shahabuddin CHUPPI (since 24 April 2023)
Prime minister: Muhammad YUNUS (since 8 August 2024)
Next Election Dates
Presidential: 2028
House of the Nation: December 2025
Main Political Parties
The main political parties include:

- Awami League (AL): governing party, centre to centre-left. It is the ruling party since 2009;
- Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP): centre to centre-right, one of the two dominant parties in Bangladesh;
- Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh: Islamist, social conservatism;
- Workers Party of Bangladesh (WPB): left-wing to far-left, communism, marxism-leninism;
- Jatiya Party (JP): centre-right to right-wing;
- Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD): left-wing, socialism;
- Bangladesh Kalyan Party (BKP): radical centre, nationalism.
Executive Power
The President of Bangladesh, as Head of State, is elected by Parliament for a 5-year term and primarily holds a ceremonial role. Executive power is concentrated in the hands of the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the President and must be the leader of the majority party or coalition in Parliament. The Prime Minister selects the members of the government, who are then formally appointed by the President.
Legislative Power
Legislative power in Bangladesh is vested in a unicameral parliament called the Jatiya Sangsad. It consists of 350 members, of whom 300 are directly elected through universal suffrage for a 5-year term. The remaining 50 seats, reserved for women, are filled indirectly by the elected members of parliament through proportional representation. All members serve 5-year terms.
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
152/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Partly Free
Political Freedom:
5/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: May 2025