Bangladesh

Parliament

Political system Political systems: Presidential, Parliamentary, Presidential-Parliamentary, Monarchy, Communist, Transitional.
Parliamentary system
Compare data of this field.
Structure of parliament Structure of parliament: Unicameral, bicameral
Unicameral
Compare data of this field.
IPU membership Current membership status
Yes
See historical data for this field. Compare data of this field.

Data on women

empty

Basic information > About parliament

Speaker

Speaker
Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury (Female)
Year of birth
1966
Additional information
Elected on 30 Apr. 2013, re-elected on 29 Jan. 2014 and on 30 Jan. 2019.
See historical data for this field.

Secretary general

Secretary General
K. M. Abdus Salam (Male)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Sworn in on 28 July 2021.

Members

Current number of members, by sex
Men The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
277
See historical data for this field.
Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
73
See historical data for this field.
Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
20.86% See historical data for this field.

Age

Average age of all members Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
59.48
See historical data for this field.
Youngest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
27
Compare data of this field.
Youngest member
Nizam Uddin Jalil John (Male)
Oldest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
84
Oldest member
Hafiz Ahmed Majumder (Male)
Total number of MPs, 45 years of age or younger
37 See historical data for this field.
Total number of MPs, 46 years of age or older
313 See historical data for this field.
Total per sex
Total of male
279 See historical data for this field.
Total of female
71 See historical data for this field.
Total per age interval
18-20
0
21-30
1
31-40
19
41-45
17 See historical data for this field.
46-50
50 See historical data for this field.
51-60
88 See historical data for this field.
61-70
120 See historical data for this field.
71-80
52 See historical data for this field.
81-90
3 See historical data for this field.
91 and over
0
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 1 19 17 50 88 120 52 3 0
Total <= 45: 37 Total >= 46: 313
Male 0 1 14 11 36 66 104 45 2 0 279
Female 0 0 5 6 14 22 16 7 1 0 71
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger0.29%0.29%0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger5.71%4.29%1.43%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger10.57%7.43%3.14%

Reserved seats and quotas

Number of reserved seats, by group
Women
50
Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
No
Compare data of this field.
Elections > Election results

Results

Members elected, by sex
Number of men elected
278
Number of women elected
22
Percentage of women elected The percentage is calculated by dividing the number of women elected in the election and the number of seats at stake at the election.
7.33%
Note on the Distribution of seats according to sex
- In the December 2018 elections, 22 women were elected under the 300 general seats.
- In January 2019, one male member passed away, leaving 22 women out of 299 members.
- On 14 February, a female candidate was elected unopposed to fill the vacancy, thereby increasing the number of women under the general seats to 23 out of 300 members.
- On 17 February, the election commission announced the results for 49 of the 50 reserved seats for women. The one remaining reserved seat was granted to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) whose six members are yet to be sworn into Parliament.
- As at 26 February, there were 72 women out of 349 members.
Number of women after election or renewal, by mode of designation
Women Directly Elected
22

New legislature

First Speaker of the new legislature
First Speaker of the new legislature First name of the Speaker of the new legislature following the election or renewal.
Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury (Female)
Political party
Bangladesh Awami League (AL)
Date of election
30.01.2019
Elections > Historical data on women

Women's suffrage

Date of independence For countries that become independent after 1940
1972
Women’s right to vote
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1937
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Detail of restrictions Suffrage: Restrictions detail
literacy, income and tax payer
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
ABJ! In 1937, the Government of India Act (adopted in 1935) came into being. It granted conditional suffrage to women. According to information provided by Pakistan, women must be literate, have an income and pay taxes.
Women’s right to vote Year in which women obtained the right to vote
1972
National or local Suffrage: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Suffrage: Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Suffrage: Additional Notes on right of suffrage
At the independence of Bangladesh, women's suffrage was confirmed. Prior to independence, the Government of India Act, which was adopted in 1935 granted conditional suffrage to women. According to information provided by Pakistan, women had to be literate, have an income and pay taxes. When Pakistan became an independent dominion in 1947 this right was confirmed and also applied to Bangladesh, then being East Pakistan.Universal suffrage was granted to women in Pakistan in 1956, when Bangladesh was still a part of it.
Women’s right to stand for election
Women's right to stand for election Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1937
National or local Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Restricted
Detail of restrictions Stand for Election: Restrictions detail
Women must have an income; pay taxes and be literate in order to stand for election.
Notes Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
In 1937, the Government of India Act (adopted in 1935) came into being. It granted conditional suffrage to women. According to information provided by Pakistan, in order for women to stand for elections, they must be literate, have an income and pay taxes.
Women's right to stand for election Year in which women obtained the right to stand for election
1972
National or local Stand for Election: National or Local
National
Restricted or unrestricted suffrage Stand for Election : Restricted or Universal
Universal
Notes Stand for Election: Additional Notes on right to stand for election
At the independence of Bangladesh, women's suffrage was confirmed. Prior to independence, the Government of India Act, which was adopted in 1935 granted conditional suffrage to women. According to information provided by Pakistan, women had to be literate, have an income and pay taxes. When Pakistan became an independent dominion in 1947 this right was confirmed and also applied to Bangladesh, then being East Pakistan.Universal suffrage was granted to women in Pakistan in 1956, when Bangladesh was still a part of it.
First woman in parliament
First woman in parliament Year in which first woman entered parliament
1973
First woman speaker
Year of first woman speaker Date at which, for the first time in the country's parliamentary history, a woman became Presiding Officer of Parliament or of one of its Houses.
2013