The chief adviser of Bangladesh, officially Chief Adviser of the People's Republic of Bangladesh , is the chief executive of the abolished caretaker and the interim government of Bangladesh, who serves as the head of government during the transition period between one elected government and another. With powers roughly equivalent to those of the Prime Minister of an elected government, their executive power is limited by the constitution. The Chief Adviser leads an advisory committee comprising several advisers (equivalent to a minister), all of them selected from among politically neutral individuals to be acceptable to all major political parties. The office of the Chief Adviser is called Chief Adviser's Office.

History

The caretaker government system of Bangladesh was introduced in March 1996 through the passage of the 13th amendment to the constitution. The system was formed to hold parliamentary elections after the election in February conducted by the Khaleda Zia government was widely boycotted by the opposition parties. The amendment recommended making the last retired chief justice the chief adviser. In 1996, Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman was appointed the chief adviser of the caretaker government. Along with the President of Bangladesh, Abdur Rahman Biswas, prevented the 1996 Bangladesh coup d'état attempt. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party had some difficult appointing a Chief adviser to the caretaker government which led to the 2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party appointed President Iajuddin Ahmed the chief adviser to the caretaker government, but he faced demands for resignation from Bangladesh Awami League. Iajuddin Ahmed was replaced by Fakhruddin Ahmed. During the crisis, the military-backed caretaker government was led by Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed. Fakhruddin Ahmed appointed three special assistants to himself who were given the rank of a state minister. The assistants were Barrister Debashis Roy, Brigadier General M. A. Malek, and Professor M Tamim. There was some debate about the constitutional validity of the assistant to the chief advisers. The caretaker government system was scrapped along with the 13th amendment in 2011 through the passage of the 15th amendment of the constitution to allow the elected government to conduct any general election in the future, with the Chief Justice of Bangladesh, A.B.M. Khairul Haque, declaring the caretaker government system illegal and unconstitutional. The office was restored in 2024 under the extra-constitutional setup of an interim government, following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Composition of the non-party caretaker government

List of chief advisers of Bangladesh

There has been 6 Chief Advisors of Bangladesh so far.