Former presidents of Bangladesh who resign after serving at least 6 months or complete a full term are entitled to a lifetime pension and other government benefits under the President's Pension, Gratuity and Other Benefits Act, 2016.
The law, enacted by Parliament in 2016, repealed the President's Pension Ordinance issued in 1979.
Pension entitlement
Section 3 of the law provides that a president who resigns after serving at least 6 months or completes a full term is entitled to a lifetime pension.
The monthly pension is set at 75% of the last basic monthly salary received while serving as president. With the president's current basic salary fixed at Tk 120,000, an eligible former president receives a monthly pension of Tk 90,000.
Gratuity and family allowance
A former president may choose a one-time gratuity instead of the monthly pension.
The gratuity is calculated by multiplying 1 year's pension by the number of years served as president.
If a former president dies while receiving the pension, the spouse is entitled to a lifetime family allowance equal to two-thirds of the pension payable to the former president.
Other benefits
Under Section 5 of the law, former presidents are entitled to several government facilities in addition to the pension.
These include 1 personal assistant and 1 attendant for official and personal work.
Former presidents are also entitled to lifetime government medical facilities equivalent to those provided to a serving cabinet minister.
They are provided with a residential telephone connection at government expense and are entitled to stay free of charge at government circuit houses or rest houses while traveling within the country.
For international travel, they are entitled to use a government-issued diplomatic passport.
Disqualification
Section 6 of the law sets out conditions under which a former president is not eligible for these benefits.
A president removed from office through impeachment under Article 52 of the Constitution is not entitled to receive any benefit under the law.
The law also disqualifies any person declared by the higher judiciary to have seized power through unconstitutional means, as well as any former president convicted by a court of an offense involving moral turpitude.