The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Monday urged the Election Commission to consider holding a referendum on the July National Charter 2025 in November, ahead of the February Jatiya Sangsad elections.
A five-member Jamaat delegation, led by nayeb-e-amir Abdullah Mohammad Taher, met chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin and four other commissioners at the Nirbachan Bhaban at Agargaon, Dhaka, to formally present the proposal.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Taher said that political parties in the National Consensus Commission had nearly finalised their decision to call for a referendum on the July Charter 鈥� a set of proposed national reforms 鈥� and emphasised that it should be held separately from the JS elections.
鈥榃e have strongly argued that the referendum should be held independently, not along with the national election. The two are entirely different in nature 鈥� one concerns national reforms, while the other is about electing representatives,鈥� he said.
Taher explained that combining the two votes could dilute the importance of the reform agenda and risk administrative complications.
鈥業f both are held together, voters will focus solely on their party symbols and campaigns, sidelining the reform issues. Moreover, any irregularities or disruptions in the elections could also affect the referendum results,鈥� he said.
Taher affirmed that the Jamaat, along with several other parties, preferred an independent and focused referendum process, suggesting that November would be an appropriate time.
He said that previous referendums in Bangladesh had been held with short intervals (with the JS polls) 鈥� even within 17 to 21 days 鈥� and therefore, holding referendum on the July Charter in November would be administratively feasible.
During the meeting, the Jamaat also discussed several other issues with the Election Commission, including voting rights for expatriates, the voter list updating process, and measures to ensure impartiality in the appointment of polling officers.
Taher said that the commission told the delegation that expatriates would be allowed to register as voters using birth certificates while voting arrangements were being made in multiple countries.
He further said that the commission assured them of completing the voter list updating by October and of exploring ways to prevent electoral fraud through photo verification in the voter database.
On the method of voting, the Jamaat proposed that the Election Commission should consider introducing a proportional representation system alongside the traditional one.
鈥榃e believe that the PR system would reduce incidents of vote rigging and capturing polling centres, which have tainted previous elections,鈥� Taher said.
The Jamaat delegation included assistant secretaries general Hamidur Rahman Azad, Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair, publicity secretary Matiur Rahman Akon, and central leader Jasim Uddin Sarkar.
Taher said that CEC Nasir made it clear that the commission had the capacity to execute any government decision and that if the government decided in favour of a referendum, the commission would be ready to implement it.
