Political parties on Wednesday again split into two blocs over legitimising the proposed referendum to empower the next parliament to implement the July Charter, differing on whether it should be held before or alongside the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad elections.
Although, the parties on October 5 overwhelmingly agreed on a referendum to adopt the July National Charter 2025, their divisions became visible during the National Consensus Commission鈥檚 third round dialogue at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
The consensus commission formally concluded the political dialogue on the day.
The commission vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz said that expert panel recommended issuance of a five-point 鈥榗omprehensive鈥� method for implementing the July Charter to reach political consensus that very night as the parties were not interested in continuing the dialogue further.
The proposed method was that the interim government issue an order to facilitate a referendum. The next Jatiya Sangsad would play dual roles as a constituent assembly and a regular parliament.
The referendum would ask two questions whether a voter support the charter with dissents or without dissents.
Professor Riaz said that the commission was expecting that the political parties would join a charter signing ceremony by October 17.
He added that the commission would submit a complete report, compiling the recommendations from the expert panel and political parties, to the interim government by October 15.
During an evening break in the meeting Jammat-e-Islami Bangladesh senior nayeb-e-amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said that his party recommended referendum before the national elections.
He said that the upper house issue needs to be decided before the national elections.
Citing chaos on the recently held DUCSU and JUCSU elections, he said referendum and the national elections would volatile the situation as mindset of political parties were not still positive for accepting the elections results.
He recommended a referendum in the mid-November.
Regarding the fate of the dissenting reform proposals he requested Bangladesh Nationalist Party to withdraw it鈥檚 notes of dissents from the charter.
鈥楴ote of dissent is not a part of majority-based decision,鈥� he said.
Jamaat-e-Islami lawyer Shishir Manir said that a July Charter Implementation Order, followed by a referendum to give the next parliament with a constituent power, under three sections 22, 25, and 27 of the July Declaration.
Answering Shishir Manir, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said that issuance of a constitution order could not be possible as per the Article 93.
He said that the interim government might issue a gazette notification as the July Charter Implementation Order. Then a superior ordinance may be issued saying that the government will hold a referendum to get peoples鈥� mandate for adopting the July Charter.
He said that the next parliament would need not to play a dual role as a constitution reform assembly and a regular parliament. 鈥楤ecause, the referendum will empower the next parliament to adopt the charter,鈥� he added.
He said that the next parliament should not be bound to pass the ordinance on the very first session.
He repeated his party stance for holding the referendum simultaneously with the national elections.
National Citizen Party joint convener Javed Rasin said his party supported a constitution order or a July Charter Implementation Order to facilitate a referendum before the 13th national elections.
鈥榃ith a positive result of the referendum, the next parliament will hold the power to amend basic structure of the constitution,鈥� he recommended.
Shahiduzzaman Selim, coordinator of 12 Party Alliance, complained that Jamaat was trying to mislead the nation by demanding referendum before the national elections.
Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Jasod, Ganosamhati Andolan, Jamiat Ulama e Islam, Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist), Amar Bangladesh Party, Jatiuotabadi Somomona Jote, 12 Party Alliance, Amjanatar Dal, Bhasani Janasakti Party, Bangladesh Labour Party, among others, opposed a referendum before the national elections.聽
The consensus commission members Md Ayub Miah, Iftekharuzzaman, Justice Emdadul Haque, Badiul Islam Majumder and chief adviser鈥檚 special assistant for reforms, Monir Haidar, also talked at the programme.
The consensus commission began working on February 15. Till October 8, the commission hosted three rounds of dialogues with more than 30 political parties and formulated the July Charter.
However, the date of the charter signing date has not been finalised yet as the parties could not agree on the charter execution method.
