BNP’s focus only on national election, regardless of satisfaction or dissatisfaction

Regardless of whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied with the process of implementing the July National Charter, the BNP is moving forward towards the national election, giving little importance to these concerns.

Policy-making leaders of the party say that although there are strong disagreements on certain matters within the interim government’s decisions, they are reassured by the announcement that the referendum and the national election will be held on the same day.

This fulfils their primary demand. The BNP is not currently overly concerned about the remaining points of disagreement.

Discussions with several responsible leaders of the party suggest that the implementation of the July Charter will be determined either through the referendum or public sentiment.

On matters of disagreement regarding the charter’s implementation, the BNP intends to wait for the verdict of the referendum. However, whether their strategy in the referendum will be to support a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’ vote still remains unclear. At this moment, the BNP’s focus is solely on the national election.

The party has adopted the July Charter, signed on 17 October at the South Plaza of the National Parliament Building by the political parties, as the benchmark for reforms in various sectors of the state.

Beyond this, the BNP’s policymaking leaders are not considering any alternative. This was reflected in the decision taken at the most recent meeting of the party’s policymaking body, the national standing committee, held on Thursday.

At the press briefing following the meeting, the two-paragraph statement, read out by the BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, ended with the following: the standing committee calls upon the government and the election commission to conduct a referendum to obtain public consent on the July National Charter, signed on the basis of consensus on 17 October and to arrange the national parliamentary election soon.

According to relevant individuals, this message indicates that the referendum held on election day will be based on the signed July Charter.

The BNP’s standing committee has expressed gratitude to the chief adviser for two matters. Those are – reaffirming, in his address to the nation, that the election will be held in the first half of February and announcing that the referendum will take place on the day of the parliamentary election. Holding the parliamentary election and referendum on the same day is considered politically advantageous for the BNP.

The question of whether the referendum should be held on the same day as the national election or beforehand has recently intensified disagreements among political parties, particularly between the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. The BNP was firmly opposed to holding the referendum beforehand.

In this regard, Jamaat-e-Islami’s central Naib-e-Ameer, Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, told Prothom Alo Friday that a major political party wanted the referendum and the national election to be held simultaneously. The reason, he claimed, is that in several university student union elections (DUCSU, JUCSU, CUCSU, RUCSU), the student vote went against that party.

According to him, they know that if the referendum is held first, nearly 80 per cent of the public will vote against their political ideology, which could be perceived as a referendum against them ahead of the election.

Eight religion-based parties including Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Andolon have been conducting programmes demanding that the referendum be held before the election.

Meanwhile, the government has announced that both the referendum and the parliamentary election will take place on the same day. As a result, the protesting parties are frustrated and displeased with the government.

Leaders of the eight parties believe that the government has yielded to pressure from the BNP by making this decision. They argue that this has placed the constitutional recognition of the July mass uprising at risk. The parties formally expressed their reaction at a press conference held yesterday, Friday.

The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami hold clearly divergent positions regarding the implementation of the July National Charter.

Although Jamaat agrees with the proposal to incorporate into the Constitution the appointment procedures for constitutional bodies such as the public service commission (PSC), the Ombudsman, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) and the anti-corruption commission (ACC), the BNP preferred that these appointments be determined through legislation rather than constitutional amendment.

The BNP has no objection to the concept of a caretaker government; however, they differ on the method of its formation. Concerning the creation of an upper house in the National Parliament, the BNP proposed representation in accordance with the proportion of seats in the lower house and that the upper house should have no role in constitutional amendments.

The BNP has no objection to the concept of a caretaker government; however, they differ on the method of its formation. Concerning the creation of an upper house in the National Parliament, the BNP proposed representation in accordance with the proportion of seats in the lower house and that the upper house should have no role in constitutional amendments.

In contrast, Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) supported the proposal for forming an upper house based on proportional representation (PR) through the National Consensus Commission.

Amid these differences, the interim government has provided a legal basis for implementing the July National Charter. The charter contains a total of 84 reform proposals, of which 48 are constitution-related and will be put to a referendum. These proposals have been grouped into four categories and the referendum will be based on a single question.

If the ‘Yes’ vote prevails in the referendum, a constitutional reform council will be formed comprising the representatives elected in the upcoming parliamentary election. These representatives will simultaneously serve as members of parliament. The Council will complete constitutional reforms within 180 working days from the date of its first session.

The BNP does not agree with all of these matters. Indicating this, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo yesterday, Friday – “We do not want, in any way, the sovereignty of Bangladesh’s National Parliament to be undermined. Therefore, we shall not permit any imposed law, order or coercive proposal to interfere with the sovereignty of the National Parliament. If any coercive proposal is made outside the signed July Charter, the people will judge it through the referendum.”

Salahuddin Ahmed further stated that the referendum itself will not enact legislation nor amend the constitution. For that, a duly elected parliament must be formed and therefore an election is essential.

BNP sources indicate that after announcing party candidates for 237 constituencies on 3 November, the BNP shifted its full attention to the election.

The uncertainties and tensions surrounding the implementation of the July Charter were also resolved through the Chief Adviser’s announcement. The party is now moving ahead towards the election with full momentum.

On this matter, BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed said, “We want the election to be held in the first half of February and the whole nation wants the same. We want to exercise our right to vote and the nation is eager to exercise that right freely.”