Parliament of Bangladesh: Boycotts, business, and change for the better

The monumental building of the Parliament of Bangladesh is retracted in a park in the heart of Dhaka, and gives the impression of a powerful institution. In constitutional terms, it is indeed powerful. Bangladesh is among a few developing countries with a parliamentary system; the president is a symbolic figure, and the prime minister and the government is dependent on a parliamentary majority. In reality, however, the executive branch dominates politics in what has been called a “prime-ministerial” system with a parliament “seriously disadvantaged vis-à-vis the executive”. Real politics is made in the prime minister’s office, in the government, and in the ruling party.

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Bangladesh programme page