Politics of Bangladesh

The politics of Bangladesh operate in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Constitution of Bangladesh was written in 1972 and has undergone seventeen amendments.

The current parliamentary system was adopted in 1991 and is based on the Westminster system. Between 1975 and 1990, the nation experienced military rule. A caretaker government was first introduced in 1990, after the resignation of military dictator Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad to observe a neutral democratic election, as per demands of the two major political parties Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Awami League (AL). Following the forced resignation of Ershad, Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed was nominated as the Chief Advisor and observed the 1991 general election. A Caretaker government is headed by a Chief Adviser who enjoys the same power as the regular prime minister of the country except defense matters. The Advisors function as Ministers. After 1991, the Caretaker government has also held the elections of 1996, 2001 and 2008. Although, the first caretaker government was intended to help the transition from authoritarianism to democracy, this system was institutionalized in 1996, by the Sixth Parliament due to rising mistrust between the BNP and AL. In 2011, the then ruling party AL abolished the caretaker government system. This has been the biggest cause of dispute among many others between the BNP and the AL since then. After the AL Government became increasing authoritarian, the 2024 July uprising led to their ousting from the country. In 2026 BNP Government assumed leadership of the country while the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami became the main opposition party.

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Bangladesh a "hybrid regime" in 2022.