ABSTRACT
The parliament of Bangladesh owes its origin to the British parliament. Its precursor, the Legislative Council of Bengal, was established in 1861, more than a century after the British first colonized India. However, for nearly six decades after its inauguration, the Legislative Council lacked any representative character. Nor, however, did it really have much scope to be proactive when it was democratized in the 1920s. Several factors – structural, procedural and political – hindered the working of the Council during British rule as well as the legislatures elected in the early years of Pakistani rule (1947–1958). Between 1958 and 1971, Pakistan essentially remained a ‘garrison state’. Whatever representative institutions existed during that time were intended more to legitimize the rule of the military than to provide a framework for public participation in governance. Following independence in 1971 after nine months of war with the Pakistani Army, Bangladesh began with what Ahmed (1983, p.127) calls a ‘perfect’ system of multi-party parliamentary government. The system was patterned on the Westminster model. The constitution, which came into effect on 16 December 1972, recognized the supremacy of the parliament, at least in lawmaking, and provided for making the Cabinet collectively responsible to the parliament. Members of the Cabinet including the prime minster were required to be Members of Parliament (MPs).
