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Political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, on Thursday expressed mixed reactions to the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order 2025 and the address of chief adviser Muhammad Yunus to the nation.

 After the chief adviser’s address, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed in an immediate reaction said that the chief adviser had violated the July Charter he himself signed.

Salahuddin said that the ‘Constitution Reform Council’ was a new concept and the issue was never discussed in the National Consensus Commission.

Salahuddin termed the four questions set for the referendum as coercive for the people.

He further said that there were differing opinions within the commission regarding proportional representation and no decision had been reached on it.  So, the inclusion of this as a referendum question was a clear violation of the charter.

Observing that the government was forcing the people by presenting a yes-or-no answer on PR, he said ‘if any coercive proposal beyond the signed July Charter is imposed, political parties are not bound to accept it.’

If such attempts created national division instead of unity, he warned, it will raise serious questions.

Referring to the legal authority of the president, Salahuddin said that the president had no power to issue an ‘order’ — only ordinances can be promulgated by the president.

‘Now, the judiciary will have to determine what status this order holds and how much legal basis it actually has,’ he added.

Salahuddin, however, said that the BNP agreed with holding the referendum and election on the same day.

Jamaat nayeb-e-ameer Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher welcomed the issuance of the order but condemned the decision of holding the referendum and election on the same day.

Talking to journalists, Taher on Thursday night also said that a referendum was needed before the national elections to make the July Charter effective, but by not doing so, the chief adviser was creating confusion.

He said that they would organise a press conference at the Alfalah audituriam at 10:30 am on Friday to present the Jamaat’s formal reaction in this regard.

Earlier in the day, Jamaat secretary general Mia Golam Parwar in his reaction said that the announcement of holding the national elections and the referendum on the same day by the chief adviser did not fulfil the people’s expectations.

‘We had hoped for a transparent and crisis-free election — but that crisis still remains,’ he said, adding that the consensus and efforts they made for a fair and proper national election — that crisis too still persisted.

National Citizen Party joint convener Sarwar Tushar in his immediate reaction said that his party had no objection to the timing of the referendum.

‘We have no objection to the timing of the referendum, but the government must explain why the chief adviser cannot issue the order himself,’ he said.

Tushar also said, ‘The July Charter would lose its legitimacy if signed by the president.’

‘The chief adviser may have maintained legality, but questions remain over its legitimacy -- and doubts persist about how much legitimacy will exist in the future,’ he added.

The Ganosamhati Andolan, however, welcomed the speech, saying that for implementing the July Charter the interim government should continue national unity of the political parties.

The government should also give more clarifications about how the charter would be implemented, said chief coordinator of the party Zonayed Saki and executive coordinator Abul Hasaan Rubel in a joint press statement.

The Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh in its reaction said that it would be hard to achieve the purpose of the referendum if held on the same day with the national elections.

RWPB general secretary Saiful Huq said that holding referendum will also break constitutional provision.

Leaders of the 12-Party Alliance welcomed the chief adviser’s speech to the nation, saying that the decision of holding referendum on the day of the national polls was appropriate.

The people of the country would also welcome the decision, the leaders said in a joint press statement.

‘We hope that the issue of holding the referendum would be resolved and all political parties would accept it,’ the leaders further said.

Meanwhile, the Amar Bangladesh Party also welcomed the speech, hoping that the next general elections would be held in a free, fair, and credible manner.  

Earlier in the day, the chief adviser in his address to the nation announced that the national elections and the referendum would be held on the same day.

After the CA’s address, president Md Shahabuddin issued the order on the implementation of the July National Charter, which formulated the questions to be included for the referendum.