National Parlament of Bangladesh ।। Jatiyo Shangsad Bhaban ।। জাতীয় স...

Name and Composition of Parliament The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh gives the legislature the name Jatiyo Shangsad in Bengali and House of the Nation in English. It is commonly known as Parliament. Parliament of Bangladesh is a unicameral legislature consisting of 350 members of which 300 Members from 300 territorial constituencies that is one from each constituency, on the basis of adult Franchise. The remaining 50 seats are reserved for women who are elected by the aforesaid elected Members in accordance with law on the basis of procedure of proportional representation in the Parliament through Single Transferable Vote. This provision for 50 reserved women seats continue for ten years from the beginning of the 9th Parliament. According to 17th Amendment, the tenure of 50 reserved women seats will increase to another 25 Years from the beginning of the 10th Parliament. As per provision of clause (3) of article 72 of the Constitution, the term of a Parliament is five years. It is ordinarily dissolved on completion of five years from the date of its first meeting after the general elections. The President has the authority to dissolve the Parliament earlier, if at any time he is satisfied that there is no Members of Parliament. The term of Parliament can be extended beyond 5 years by an Act of Parliament by not more than one year at a time when the Republic is engaged in war. History and Building The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh and the first Parliament held their sittings in the building that now houses the Prime Minister's Office and which is often referred as the old Shangshad Bhaban (old Parliament House). The second Parliament also held most of its sittings in that building, the last sitting being on 10 July 1981. It was during the tenure of the second Parliament that the present Parliament building, or Shangshad Bhaban, located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, became functional. Its eighth, and incidentally the last session, commenced on 15 February 1982 in the new building. The legislative enclave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar is among the largest legislative complexes in the world and is bound by Rokeya Sarani to the east, Mirpur Road to the west, Lake Road to the north and Manik Mian Avenue to the south. Its total area is approximately 200 acres. Situated in the enclave are the impressive structure of the Parliament Building, a Members hostel, residences for parliamentary functionaries, two large lush green lawns and a lake. Residences of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, which were included in the master plan for this enclave are yet to be constructed. Design The design of the Parliament Building, made by the famous architect Professor Louis I. Kahn. This has been achieved through the overall arrangement of the complex in different groups of buildings in which normal external lines are deeply recessed by porticoes with huge geometric openings on its outer facade, forming the visual characteristics of the building. Thus conventional methods of protecting external windows have been effectively substituted, resulting in the compositional effect of these huge openings, befitting the scale of the building. The entire complex has a floor area of 8,23,000 sq. ft. in the main building, 2,23,000 sq. ft. in the South Plaza and 65,000 sq. ft. in the Presidential Plaza. The Parliament Building consists of three major components: the South Plaza, the Presidential Plaza and the main Building. The South Plaza, gradually rising to 20' height, serves as the visual base as well as the formal entrance to the Parliament Building. It contains: controlling gates; a driveway; a main mechanical plant room; a large car parking space; a telephone exchange; offices of maintenance engineers; equipment stores; and 

an open plaza with steps and ramps leading directly to the main building.