The law adviser, Asif Nazrul, on Thursday said that the chief adviser, Muhammad Yunus, would soon make a decision on the July Charter implementation and the time for the referendum.
Major parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, have taken a conflicting stand on the issue.
He said this at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka after the council of advisers had met in the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office. Yunus presided over the meeting.
Noting that conflicts among political parties over the timing of the referendum have reached a peak, Asif Nazrul said that 鈥楾he chief adviser will make the decision鈥�.
鈥榃e will remain under his leadership and assist him. No particular individual will make the decision. Please be assured of that. The chief adviser will decide this matter, and the decision will come soon,鈥� he added.
On the question of implementing the July National Charter, two broad types of disputes 鈥� the process of implementing the charter and the date and timing of the referendum 鈥� have arisen among the political parties.
The National Consensus Commission, on October 28, submitted its recommendations to the chief adviser on ways to implement the charter, suggesting holding a referendum for its implementation either before the national election or on the day of the election.
Several parties, including the BNP, want the national election and the referendum on the same day, and the full responsibility for implementing the July Charter to rest with the elected parliament.
The BNP has also expressed discontent with the recommendations for implementing the charter, claiming that several issues have been added that were not part of the original agreement signed by political parties.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and several other parties have demanded that the referendum be held in November and that the directive for implementing the July Charter should come from the chief adviser.
About the debate among the political parties over the charter鈥檚 implementation, Asif Nazrul at the press briefing also said, 鈥業t is disappointing that the discordant tone emerges among the political parties even after 270 days of discussions.鈥�
He said that passing the consensus document amid such sharp disagreements has posed a serious challenge for the interim government.
鈥楾he political parties were given ample time for dialogue,鈥� Asif Nazrul said. 鈥楨ven after that, the disunity they are displaying raises questions about where they have taken the spirit of the July uprising.鈥�
鈥業f political parties insist on the government to adopt their individual stance, it means that there is no consensus among them. What they actually want from the government is to uphold their partisan position,鈥� he said.
When asked whether this disunity over the July Charter would affect the national election, Asif Nazrul said, 鈥楻egardless of what anyone says, we are determined and firmly committed to hold the national election in the first half of February.鈥�
鈥業t is not an absolute right that the elected parliament will have no responsibility for reforms and everything must be done by the interim government,鈥� he said
In response to a question about whether the July Charter would be amended, he said that the commission had made its recommendations, and the government had the freedom to decide how to implement them, and the chief adviser would make the final decision.
He also said that all major political parties had reached a consensus on the composition of the current government after the July uprising.
鈥楾herefore, if sharp divisions now arise among the same political forces regarding any future issue, and the government sides with one, it can no longer be called a government of consensus,鈥� he said.
鈥極ur job would have been much easier, and such crises would not have arisen if the political forces behind the July uprising had remained united,鈥� he added.
He said, 鈥楾he Consensus Commission has proposed two alternatives. One is that if the July Charter is not implemented within 270 days by the new parliament, it will automatically be incorporated into the constitution. We will examine whether there is any precedent for this or if it is even possible.鈥�
鈥楾he other option is to leave this responsibility to the elected parliament. There is intense disagreement among the political parties over choosing one of these two options as more acceptable,鈥� he said.
The adviser said that the issue of disagreement among the political parties was also discussed at the meeting of the council of advisers, but no decision was made on it.