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Leaders of the National Citizen Party on Saturday said that a new constitution would have to be formulated through a constituent assembly before holding the national election in the country.

The NCP leaders came up with the demand at a discussion on ‘Constituent assembly elections to implement the July Charter’, organised by the party at its central office in Dhaka. 

NCP member secretary Akhtar Hossain said,  ‘We can’t leave the task of implementing the reforms to the next government. The reforms must be implemented under this government.’

He also said, ‘We have no objection to elections whenever it is held, but we will not accept the elections through the old arrangements.’

Urging political parties to stand in favour of the constituent assembly, he also warned of returning to the streets if there was any barrier to the formulation of a new constitution.

‘We don’t want the July Charter to be a paper tiger, we want this charter to be implemented during the tenure of this government,’ he added.

Hasnat Abdullah, NCP chief organiser for the Southern Region, said, ‘We are not for sale. We can’t be bought in exchange for seats in the parliament. Our goal is building a new Bangladesh and we will survive only if we have the people’s trust.’

He said that an election based on seat-sharing or compromise would mean a repeat of the ‘midnight voting’.

‘We will not negotiate seat-sharing with the BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) or any other party. The people must have alternatives before them. We don’t want elections dependent on officers or the administration as in the past.’

Hasnat alleged that various media outlets were deliberately spreading corruption reports against their leaders.

‘If anyone can prove that we have engaged in corruption within the past one year with documentary evidence, I will quit politics,’ he said.

He said, ‘Whether in November, December, or January — whenever the election is held, it must not be held under the old system.’

Terming the existing constitution as a ‘textbook of fascism’, he also said that the constitution had failed in the past resulting in the ‘August 5’, so a new settlement would have to be introduced in order to fulfill expectations of the people.’

He said, ‘We don’t want an election by negotiation or seat-sharing, we want an election where the people will have the option to pick their candidate.’

Criticising the government, Hasnat also said, ‘The person who was made head of the government after the mass uprising went to London. Is there any precedent in the world history of an interim head of government sitting in a press conference with the acting chair of a political party? On that very day, he went to London and sold out the government.’

Chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary said that the only solution to the ongoing crisis was holding the constituent assembly elections.

He also said that a new constitution was needed for the safety of the families of the July uprising martyrs and injured.

Another NCP leader Jahirul Islam Musa said that all the amendments made to the constitution till now had not been as per the aspirations of the people.

‘The issues of constitutional reform on which the political parties have agreed, will require a constituent assembly election to implement them. Otherwise, it will be another mockery with the people,’ he said.

NCP leader Faridul Haque said that a constituent assembly election was needed to implement the July Charter, otherwise, he added, the implementation won’t be possible.