There appears to be some uncertainty regarding the legalisation of ordinances issued during the immediate past interim government. According to Article 93(2) of the Constitution, ordinances must be placed before Parliament at its first session and converted into law within 30 days. If this is not done, the ordinances automatically lapse.
Media reports indicate that the BNP(Bangladesh Nationalist Party)-led government may not place most of these ordinances before Parliament for conversion into law, except for a few. The justification cited is time constraints. During the 18-month tenure of the interim government, 133 ordinances were hurriedly issued—roughly one ordinance every four days. To convert all of these into law within 30 days in Parliament, the current government would have to approve about four and a half ordinances per day.
The question is whether the situation is really this rigid, or if decisions can be made based on the type and importance of the ordinances. First, it should be noted that not all ordinances are the same—their scope and significance vary. Many ordinances issued at that time were short and specific, aimed at running the daily functions of the caretaker government or implementing demands from popular movements.
For example, among 17 ordinances issued in 2024, four ordinances were issued to remove elected representatives from district, upazila, city corporation, and municipal bodies and appoint alternative administrators, two ordinances related to revoking security arrangements for the Sheikh family and placing the caretaker government’s chief adviser under SSF security, one ordinance removed Sheikh Hasina’s name from the National Youth Development Institute, one ordinance aimed to remove and appoint WASA Managing Director, one ordinance increased the retirement age of Bangladesh Bank Governor, one ordinance set the maximum age for government service entry at 32, and the others included the Indemnity Law and ordinances repealing provisions for fuel price adjustment without public hearing.
