THE STATE

The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign republic comprising three basic organs: the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. The President is the Head of State and is elected by the members of parliament. The President acts in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister and the supreme command of the Armed Forces is vested upon the President.
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THE GOVERNMENT
The Government is unitary in structure and parliamentary in form. The executive power of the Republic is exercised by the President entirely on the advice of the Prime Minister, who must command the support of the majority members of Parliament and is appointed by the
President.

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THE GOVERNMENT
Other ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers are appointed as per the advice of the Prime Minister. The
Prime Minister nominates 90% of the cabinet members from among the parliament members and 10% from outside the parliament. The cabinet is collectively responsible to the parliament.

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THE LEGISLATURE
The parliament or jatiya Sangsad has 345 seats. All the members are directly elected. The tenure of the parliament is five years. The parliament is a sovereign body with a separate secretariat. The Speaker, along with the Deputy Speaker, Whips and panel of chairmen run the sessions of Parliament.
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THE LEGISLATURE
In the present ninth parliament, Bangladesh Awami League commands absolute majority, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jatiya Party, Jammat-e-Islami are the other major political parties with representations in the parliament. There are parliamentary standing committees for different ministries,
which serve as parliamentary watchdogs over the activities of the government.
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THE JUDICIARY
At the apex of the countrys judiciary stands the Supreme Court. It consists of the High Court Division and the Appellate Division. The Supreme Court serves as the guardian of the Constitution and enforces the

fundamental rights of the citizens.

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THE JUDICIARY
There are subordinate courts at district and upazila levels as well as special courts and tribunals such as the administrative tribunal, family courts, labor tribunal, land, commercial, municipal and marine courts, tribunals for checking repression on women and children and for speedy trial of cases related to terrorism.

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THE EXECUTIVE
The elected Prime Minister and his/her Cabinet members rule Bangladesh with the aid of a permanent bureaucracy. The ministers remain at the helm of ministries or divisions, which are manned by civil servants recruited by the Public Service Commission. The ministries perform regulatory policy-making functions while the numerous subordinate offices execute government policies and decisions at the field level.
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THE EXECUTIVE
The country is divided into seven administrative divisions (namely Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet, and Rangpur), each composed of districts. There are 64 districts, which are in turn divided into upazilas. At present, there are 481 upazilas each divided into unions (local government units), mouzas (land record units) and villages at the lowest tier.
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