Legislative size (voting members)

Bangladesh's Constitution of 1972, Reinstated in 1986, with Amendments through 2014, accessed 15 January 2024

65. Establishment of Parliament

1. There shall be a Parliament for Bangladesh (to be known as the House of the Nation) in which subject to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be vested the legislative powers of the Republic:

Provided that nothing in this clause shall prevent Parliament from delegating to any person or authority, by Act of Parliament, power to make orders, rules, regulations, bye-laws or other instruments having legislative effect.

2. Parliament shall consist of three hundred members to be elected in accordance with law from single territorial constituencies by direct election and, for so long as clause (3) is effective, the members provided for in that clause; the members shall be designated as Members of Parliament.

3. Until the dissolution of Parliament occurring next after the expiration of the period of ten years beginning from the date of the first meeting of the Parliament next after the Parliament in existence at the time of the commencement of the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 2004, there shall be reserved fifty seats exclusively for women members and they will be elected by the aforesaid members in accordance with law on the basis of procedure of proportional representation in the Parliament through single transferable vote: Provided that nothing in this clause shall be deemed to prevent a woman from being elected to any of the seats provided for in clause (2) of this article.

3A. For the remaining period of the Parliament in existence at the time of the commencement of the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 2011, Parliament shall consist of three hundred members elected by direct election provided for in clause (2) and fifty women members provided for in clause (3).