The recommendation to issue a “constitutional order” and subsequently hold a referendum as a way to implement the constitutional proposals of the July National Charter is undergoing further review. Yesterday, Saturday, the National Consensus Commission held a meeting with experts on the matter.
According to sources in the Consensus Commission, the expert committee will conduct further examination of the process for implementing the July Charter and then provide its opinion to the commission again. After that, there will be another meeting between the experts and the commission.
Discussions with political parties on the implementation process by the National Consensus Commission have been temporarily postponed. These suspended discussions may resume at the beginning of October, when the experts’ opinions are expected to be presented again.
Amid the differences of opinion among political parties over the process of implementing the July Charter, the National Consensus Commission last Wednesday introduced a new set of expert recommendations.
BNP suggested that, under Article 106 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court’s opinion should be sought on whether constitutional amendments or a constitutional order can be issued by an interim government or any other authority, or whether this could be accomplished in some other way.
These recommendations suggested that the interim government could issue a “constitutional order” to implement the fundamental reform proposals. Such an order would come into immediate effect. Afterwards, a referendum could be held on the same day as the national parliamentary election regarding the order.
However, several parties, including the BNP, expressed disagreement with this proposal. BNP suggested that, under Article 106 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court’s opinion should be sought on whether constitutional amendments or a constitutional order can be issued by an interim government or any other authority, or whether this could be accomplished in some other way. A few other parties also called for seeking the Supreme Court’s opinion.
Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizens’ Party (NCP), however, opposed the BNP’s proposal. The recommendations put forward by the experts were quite close to Jamaat’s proposal. Meanwhile, NCP had said it would discuss within the party first and then state its position.
Sources involved said that if the method recommended by the experts were to be implemented, complications could arise in certain cases. For example, if a constitutional order is issued and implemented but then the July Charter fails to pass in the referendum, what would happen then? This question came up during yesterday’s meeting with the experts. Alongside this, the suggestion by political parties to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion under Article 106 of the Constitution was also discussed. The possibility of combining the three approaches to find a solution was considered, but no decision was made.
A press release issued by the National Consensus Commission yesterday stated that the commission had again held a meeting with experts on possible ways and processes to implement the July National Charter. The meeting was held at the LD Hall of the Jatiya Sangsad.
Those who participated as experts in the meeting included retired Justice M A Matin of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, retired Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury, Professor Mohammad Ikramul Haque, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Dhaka University, senior advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Sharif Bhuiyan, Barrister Tanim Hossain Shawon, and Barrister Imran Siddique.
The experts were briefed on the summary of discussions held with political parties regarding the commission’s proposed recommendations for implementing the Charter. The various opinions, suggestions, and concerns expressed by political parties in those discussions were highlighted so that the experts could gain a clear understanding of the overall context.
Representing the National Consensus Commission in yesterday’s meeting with the experts were Commission Vice President Professor Ali Riaz, member Badiul Alam Majumdar, retired Justice Md. Emdadul Haque, Iftekharuzzaman, and Md. Aiyub Mia. In addition, Monir Haidar, special assistant to the Chief Adviser involved in the national consensus-building process, was also present at the meeting.
When asked, Monir Haidar told Prothom Alo that following Wednesday’s discussions with political parties, the commission felt that there was some ambiguity regarding the implementation procedure that had been recommended. “This matter was raised in the meeting with the experts. It needs further examination. There may be more meetings with the experts on this issue in the future,” he said.