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I, Syed Nazrul Islam, the Vice President and Acting President of Bangladesh, in exercise of the
powers conferred on me by the Proclamation of Independence dated tenth day of April, 1971
do hereby order that all laws that were in force in Bangladesh on 25th March, 1971, shall
subject to the Proclamation aforesaid continue to be so in force with such consequential
changes as may be necessary on account of the creation of the sovereign independent State of
Bangladesh formed by the will of the people of Bangladesh and that all government officials -
civil, military, judicial and diplomatic who take the oath of allegiance to Bangladesh shall
continue in their offices on terms and conditions of service so long enjoyed by them and that all
District Judges and District Magistrates, in the territory of Bangladesh and all diplomatic
representatives elsewhere shall arrange to administer the oath of allegiance to all government
officials within their jurisdiction.

This order shall be deemed to have come into effect from 26th day of March, 1971.

Signed:- Syed Nazrul Islam

Acting President.

The Provisional Constitution of Bangladesh Order, 1972

The Provisional Constitution of Bangladesh Order, 1972 On 11 January 1972 President SHEIKH MUJIBUR
RAHMAN issued a Provisional Constitution Order. This Order changed the nature of government. The
presidential form was substituted by the cabinet form of government. Its main features were: (i) There should be
parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh in accordance with the will of the people; (ii) There should be a cabinet
of ministers with the PRIME MINISTER as its head; (iii) The president should act and exercise his functions on the
advice of the prime minister; (iv) The President should appoint a member of the constituent Assembly the prime
minister who commanded the confidence of the majority members of the constituent assembly. All other
ministers should be appointed by the President on the advice of the prime minister; (vi) There should be a
constituent assembly comprising Bangladeshis who had been elected to the seats of the National Assembly and
the Provincial Assembly in December 1970 and 17 January 1971, who are not otherwise disqualified by or
under any law; (v) In the event of a vacancy in the office of the President at any time prior to the framing of the
constitution by the constituent assembly, the cabinet should appoint a Bangladeshi citizen as the President.

There should be a HIGH COURT of Bangladesh which would consist of a CHIEF JUSTICE and as many judges as
may be appointed from time to time. One significant point to be noted here is that unlike the Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was not given any law-making function; it was
solely responsible for making the constitution of the country. The law-making power continued to remain
vested in the executive, and the Proclamation of Independence continued to remain as the supreme law till the
constitution was put into effect from 16 December 1972. The executive till then remained unaccountable to
anybody or to any institution whatsoever.