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What a Parliamentary System Means


Many of us have heard about the national parliament and the MP’s. But how many of us actually know what a parliamentary system is?

The Jatiyo Shangshad (Bangladesh National Parliament

The parliamentary system is one of the two major democratic systems of government, the other one being the presidential system. In a parliamentary system, the party which has the majority of the seats in the parliament forms the government.

Each seat is derived from its respective constituency. Constituencies are areas from where the voters democratically elect one person who represents them in the parliament, hence becoming an MP. The parliament is the legislative body of the government and is responsible for making all the laws.

Parliamentary system vs Presidential system

In a parliamentary style of government, the prime minister is the leader of the government, the cabinet, and the parliament. A prime minister is selected among the MP’s of the party with the

majority of seats in the parliament. This is a stark difference from the presidential system where the president is directly elected by all the voters in the country. Therefore, a common criticism of the presidential system is that the President may be elected due to his/her popularity rather than capability as a politician. Also, a president might be elected by only getting majority votes from the more populous areas and thus won’t need to campaign elsewhere. As a result, many people in the less populous areas might be left out ,and won’t be able to connect with the president. On the other hand, the prime minister will not need to campaign anywhere else except his/her constituency. As a result, a prime minister might not be very popular in all parts of a country.

In a presidential system there are more checks and balances as the executive and legislative branches are separate. In the parliamentary system the executive branch consists of the prime minister and his/her cabinet. The cabinet members are more likely than not, members of the parliament as well. Hence, the legislative branch and the executive branch in the parliamentary system is a lot more intertwined.

Passing bills and laws in a Presidential system might be a far slower process as there is a balance of power. In the Parliamentary system, it is a lot faster and efficient.

Parliamentary system of Bangladesh

Bangladesh, like most of the Commonwealth nations, has a parliamentary style of government. There are 300 directly contested seats and 50 seats reserved for women which are not elected. Rather the parties nominate their female candidates for these seats. This gives a grand total of 350 seats in our parliament. The party or the alliance of parties with the majority of seats forms the government.

Currently the Awami League led ‘Grand Alliance’ (with their  292 seats) is in power, and has been for almost a decade with Sheikh Hasina as our honourable prime minister.

With the upcoming parliamentary elections coming up in December 2018-January 2019, it’s more  important for us to understand our political system than ever before. Many of us have become eligible voters. For most of us it’s going to be our first time as voters. We should all be more aware of our political situation and how it works. After all, we’re the ones who will lead this country in the future. Therefore it is our responsibility to be aware and do whatever helps Bangladesh.

So this time, let’s go out and use our democratic right to vote. Vote for the candidate whom we feel is the most capable, rather than following our family’s political bias. After all, isn’t the whole idea of eduction to learn how to critically think and analyze? After all, Albert Einstein once famously said, ‘Education is not about the learning of facts, but training the mind how to think.’

We should strive and struggle for what feels right to us and express it freely, only after we have done enough analysis. That is the true meaning of democracy.


Syed Afnan Huq

Editor, Global Affairs

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