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 national election.
Though 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 parties did not reach any consensus until filing the report at 8:30pm.
The consensus commission officials, however, said that they would place a 鈥榗omprehensive鈥� method for implementing the July Charter to reach a political consensus that very night, as the parties were not interested in continuing the dialogue further.
The proposed method was that the interim government would issue a constitution, or the July Charter Implementation 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 supports the charter with dissents or without dissents.
The decision over the timing of the referendum would be decided by the interim government, the commission insiders said.
During an evening break of the meeting,
Jammat-e-Islami Bangladesh senior nayeb-e-amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said that his party recommended a referendum before the national election.
He said that the upper house issue needed to be decided before the national elections.
Citing chaos in the recently held DUCSU and JUCSU elections, he said that the referendum and the national election would further complicate the situation, as the mindset of political parties was not yet positive for accepting the election results.
He recommended a referendum in mid-November.
Regarding the fate of the dissenting reform proposals, he requested the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to withdraw its notes of dissent from the charter.
鈥楴ote of dissent is not a part of majority-based聽 decision,鈥� he said.
National Citizen Party joint convener Javed Rasin said that his party supported a constitutional order or a July Charter Implementation Order to facilitate a referendum before the 13th national election.
鈥榃ith a positive result of the referendum, the next parliament will hold the power to amend the basic structure of the constitution,鈥� he recommended.
A member of the BNP delegation, Ismail Jabiullah, also an adviser to the party chairperson, said that the proposed referendum should be held incorporating the dissenting opinions in the charter.
He said that the referendum should be held on the day of the national election.
Shahiduzzaman Selim, the coordinator of 12 Party Alliance, complained that Jamaat was trying to mislead the nation by demanding a referendum before the national election.
Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Jasod, Ganosamhati Andolan, Jamiat Ulama e Islam, Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist), Amar Bangladesh Party, Jatiyatabadi Samamana Jote, 12 Party Alliance, Amjanatar Dal, Bhasani Janasakti Party,聽 Bangladesh Labour Party, among others, opposed a referendum before the national elections.
Revolutionary Workers Party general secretary Saiful Huq, Ganosamhati
Andolan chief coordinator Zonayed Saki, Rashtra
Sangskar Andolon president Hasnat Quaiyum, Gono Odhikar Parishad general secretary Rashed Khan, among others, requested parties to minimise their gaps for the sake of national security.
