The extended tenure of the National Consensus Commission ended on Friday amid controversies surrounding its road map to implement the July National Charter 2025.
For the third time on October 16, the interim government had extended the NCC tenure till October 31.
On October 28, the commission submitted its July Charter implementation road map to the chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, also the NCC chair.
The road map recommended the interim government to issue a July National Charter (reform of constitution) implementation order.
The order would mention 48 constitution-related reform proposals but skip the notes of dissent 鈥攃ontained in the charter 鈥攆rom several political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
A scrutiny of the charter showed that it contained more than 50 notes of dissent on 84 reform proposals.
Several political parties, including the BNP and its like-minded parties, lawyers and academics termed the road map as 鈥榓 deception for the nation鈥�.聽
NCC vice-chair Ali Riaz said, 鈥楾he commission recommended the road map, following extensive discussions with jurists and political parties. Now, it鈥檚 up to the interim government to decide the final steps.鈥�
Formally beginning its task on February 15, the consensus commission had been assigned to formulate the July Charter on a broader consensus of the contemporary political parties in six months.
The consensus commission consisted of chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus as its chair, Professor Ali Riaz as vice-chair, Md Emdadul Haque, Iftekharuzzaman, Badiul Alam Majumder, Safar Raj Hossain and Md Ayub Mia as the members. Chief Adviser鈥檚 special assistant for reforms, Monir Haidar, coordinated the NCC works.
Following several meetings with civil society organisations, legal experts, and three rounds of dialogues with more than 30 political parties, except for the ousted Awami League and its allies, the commission first revealed a draft July Charter on July 30.
Amid requests for modifying the draft, the commission presented a complete draft charter on August 16. Meanwhile, the interim government extended the commission鈥檚 tenure till September 15.
Several political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, were still unsatisfied with the second draft as they slammed the draft covenant that put restrictions on challenging the charter in any court.
On September 10, the commission presented a revised draft, rewriting the covenant part.
Meanwhile the government for the second time extended the NCC tenure till October 15 as some political parties, including the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party, demanded a concrete road map to implement the July Charter.
On October 14, the commission presented the final version of the charter ahead of the signing ceremony, scheduled for October 17.聽
On October 16, the interim government, for the third time, extended the NCC tenure till October 31.
The final charter contained a brief historical context of the reform initiatives, a list of 84 reform proposals with notes of dissent, and a covenant.
As the final charter did not contain the road map to implement the charter, the NCP on October 17 boycotted the signing ceremony.
On the other hand, four left-leaning parties, too, refused to sign the charter as the document did not include the existing state fundamental principles.
Interim government chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, representatives of 24 political parties, and the commission members signed the charter at the ceremony.
Two days later, Gono Forum also signed the charter.
On October 28, the commission submitted its July Charter implementation road map to the chief adviser.
But, the road map gave resulted in political tension. The BNP and several political analysts considered this as a 鈥榸ero-sum outcome鈥�.
