The National Consensus Commission on Thursday shared the final July National Charter 2025 with 30 political parties, keeping the provisions for incorporating the document into the constitution and the signatory parties’ commitment not to challenge it legally.
After a meeting with the political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, the consensus commission shared the document which also mentioned which parties agreed and disagreed to which reform proposals, as several parties demanded such mentions in earlier sittings.
The meeting discussed charter execution methods as suggested by the parties and a six-member expert panel employed by the commission. The meeting on Thursday, however, was adjourned till Sunday, as the parties couldn’t reach consensus.
While addressing a post-meeting press conference, NCC vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz said that the parties reached consensus that the interim government and the relevant authorities could issue ordinances, orders and regulations and implement reforms that were not related to the constitution.Â
He added that the political parties were asked to send names of two representatives, who could be available in the charter signing ceremony, to the commission by 5:00pm of September 13.Â
On August 16, the commission shared the initial draft of the July charter with the political parties. The draft had three parts: a prologue with a historical context of the ongoing reform initiatives, a list of 84 reform proposals agreed by most of the parties, and a covenant.
Many parties objected to the covenant part which bound the signatories to incorporate the charter in the constitution and prioritise it over the existing law of the state.
They also opposed the provisions that no one could question the charter in any court and only the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court had the authority to interpret its clauses.
Amid the parties’ objection, the commission rewrote the covenant part, provisioning that the charter would be annexed to the constitution or be added in an appropriate manner.
The revised covenant will bind only the signatories that they will not challenge the document in any court and ensure its legal and constitutional protection.
In Thursday’s meeting, the commission placed six options, recommended by political parties, of executing the July charter.
The options were a referendum on the July charter, a special constitutional order by the president’s executive power, an elected constituent assembly, the next 13th parliament, a constitution reform council and the Appellate Division’s observation.
Moreover, the commission referred its six-member expert panel’s suggestions, including an ordinance, an executive order, a referendum and a special constitutional order, for adopting the charter.
However, the meeting was adjourned due to no consensus on the methods.
Among the attendees, Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said that his party was ready to sign the charter.
Regarding the charter implementation method, he repeated that lawmakers of the 13th parliament should adopt the constitutional reforms that were agreed during the commission-held dialogues.
Opposing the option for issuing a special constitutional order, Salahuddin said, ‘As the present interim government has been established on the basis of the existing constitution, neither the government nor the president has the right to facilitate a special constitutional order.’
Earlier, the BNP had opposed holding a referendum or issuing executive orders or seeking the Appellate Division’s observation to adopt the charter’s provisions.
However, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nayeb-e-amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said that his party recommended a special constitutional order to legally establish the July charter.
Although the National Citizen Party had long been advocating for a constituent assembly as ‘the best way’ to adopt the charter, the party’s joint convener Javed Rasin said on Thursday that the interim government may decide the ‘suitable’ method for executing the charter.
Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis’ senior nayeb-e-amir Yusuf Ashraf said that his party was now recommending a special constitutional order, instead of a referendum.
Jatiyo Gana Front chief coordinator Tipu Biswas alerted all to a chaotic situation as a consequence of reforming the constitution without people’s mandates.
He said that the interim government should hold the national elections first and then hand over the responsibility for reforming the constitution to the lawmakers.
