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This is a list of the persons who have exercised the powers and authority of and functioned as the head of government in Bangladesh.
Under the constitutional framework established after 1991, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh serves as the executive head of government. However effective control of the government has at various times been exercised by other offices. These have included the President, the extra-constitutional office of Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA), the constitutional position of Chief Adviser of a caretaker or interim government, as well as various de facto leaders who exercised authority without formally holding the office of head of government.
Prime Minister
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh is the constitutional head of government under the country’s parliamentary system. The 1972 Constitution established a Westminster-style system in which the prime minister, as leader of the majority in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament), directs the executive branch. The officeholder is appointed by the president but must retain the confidence of parliament to remain in office.
From 12 January 1972 to 25 January 1975 for 3 years and 13 days, the prime minister was the head of government under the original parliamentary framework of the Constitution. Following the shift to a presidential system in 1975 and subsequent military regimes.
The Twelfth Amendment of 1991 restored parliamentary democracy after years of presidential and military dominance, reaffirming the prime minister as the central executive authority. Since 20 March 1991, the prime minister has been the head of government, except during periods when Chief Advisers of caretaker or interim administrations have temporarily assumed executive authority.
This post as head of government was held by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during 1st parliamentary republic and by Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina during 2nd parliamentary republic.
President
The President of Bangladesh is the ceremonial head of state since 20 March 1991 under the current parliamentary system.
During martial law, the office of Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) often overlapped with the presidency, with the same individual holding both posts. In times when the two offices were separated, the CMLA generally exercised predominant authority. In Ziaur Rahman’s tenure as CMLA, his proclamations did not clearly delineate the division of powers between the president and the CMLA and did not specify who was the head of government but the CMLA exercised de facto authority. During Hussain Muhammad Ershad's assumption of power, the proclamation of martial law on 24 March 1982 explicitly stated that the president could not exercise any authority “without the advice or approval of the CMLA,” and that the CMLA would function as “the Chief Executive and head of the Government” until the withdrawal of martial law.
This post was held as head of government by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Provisional and republic), Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad (under martial law), Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem (also CMLA during a part of his tenure before being de jure head of government), Ziaur Rahman (also CMLA before being elected), Abdus Sattar (Acting before being elected) and Hussain Muhammad Ershad (also CMLA before and partially after being elected). Syed Nazrul Islam was acting president in 1971 during Mujib's Incarceration in Pakistan and Shahabuddin Ahmed after resignation of Ershad.
Chief Martial Law Administrator
The Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA) was the principal executive authority during periods of extra-constitutional martial law in Bangladesh. The office frequently overlapped with the presidency sometimes held by the same person and, when separate, the CMLA typically exercised the dominant, de facto executive power.
The office was created in 1996 by the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, following controversy over election credibility. During the 2006–08 political crisis, when President Iajuddin Ahmed assumed the role before being replaced by Fakhruddin Ahmed, who led a military-backed non-neutral caretaker administration. The caretaker system was abolished by the Fifteenth Amendment in 2011 after the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional. However, the office was restored in December 2024 through a High Court ruling and the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which paved the way for a new interim government.
General Waker-uz-Zaman assumed practical control during the brief transition following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation on 5 August 2024, until the installation of the interim government on 8 August 2024. Waker’s coordination of the security apparatus and administrative functions positioned him as the de-facto leader during this brief 3 day transition.
! class="unsortable" |#
! class="unsortable" |Portrait
!Head of Government
!Rank
!Government<br>type
!<small><sub>Election</sub></small>
!Party
!Term start
!Term end
!Term length
!<small>Ministry</small>
|-
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center" |1
| rowspan="3" |147x147px
| rowspan="3" |Sheikh Mujibur Rahman<br><br>
|President
|Provisional
| style="text-align:center" |1970
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |AL
|
|
|
|Mujib I
|-
|Prime Minister
|Parliamentary
| style="text-align:center" |1973
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |AL
|
|
|
|Mujib II<hr>Mujib III
|-
|President
|Presidential<br><small>under one party</small>
| style="text-align:center" |—
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |BaKSAL
|
|<br>
|
|Mujib IV
|- style="background:#e6e6aa;"
| style="text-align:center" |-
|
|Syed Nazrul Islam<br><br>
|Acting president
|Provisional
| style="text-align:center" |—
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |AL
|
|
|
|Mujib I
|-
| style="text-align:center" |2
|
|Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad<br>
|President
|Presidential<br><small>(Martial law</small><small>)</small>
| style="text-align:center" |—
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |AL<br><small>(military<br>backed)</small>
|
|<br>
|
|Mostaq
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" |3
| rowspan="2" |
| rowspan="2" |Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem<br><br>
| style="background-color:pink;" |CMLA
| rowspan="2" |Presidential<br><small>(Martial law)</small>
| style="background-color:pink;text-align:center" |—
| rowspan="2" style="border-left:0.5em solid " |Neutral<br><small>(military<br>backed)</small>
| style="background-color:pink;" |
| style="background-color:pink;" |
| style="background-color:pink;" |
| rowspan="2" |Sayem
|-
|Presidential<br><small>(Martial law)</small>
| style="text-align:center" |1977
|
|
| rowspan="3" |Zia
|-
|Presidential
| style="text-align:center" |1978
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |BNP
|
|<br>
|-
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" |5
| rowspan="2" |133x133px
| rowspan="2" |Abdus Sattar<br>
| style="background:#e6e6aa;" |Acting president
| rowspan="2" |Presidential
| style="text-align:center; background:#e6e6aa;" |—
| style="border-left:0.5em solid ; background:#e6e6aa;" |BNP
| style="background:#e6e6aa;" |
| style="background:#e6e6aa;" |
|
|-
|President
| style="text-align:center" |1981
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |BNP
|
|<br>
|
|Sattar
|-
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center" |6
| rowspan="4" |129x129px
| rowspan="4" |Hussain Muhammad Ershad<br><br>
| style="background-color:pink;" |CMLA
| rowspan="3" |Presidential<br><small>(Martial law)</small>
| style="background-color:pink;text-align:center" |—
| rowspan="2" style="border-left:0.5em solid " |Military
| style="background-color:pink;" |
| style="background-color:pink;" |
| style="background-color:pink;" |
| rowspan="4" |Ershad
|-
| style="text-align:center" |16
|141x141px
|Muhammad Yunus<br>
|Chief Adviser
|Interim
| style="text-align:center" |—
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |Neutral
|
|17 February 2026
|
|Yunus
|-
| style="text-align:center" |17
| 138x138px
|Tarique Rahman<br>
|Prime Minister
|Parliamentary
| style="text-align:center" |2026
| style="border-left:0.5em solid " |BNP
|
| Incumbent
|
|Tarique
|}