July Charter’s consolidated draft: BNP submits objections officially
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has officially informed the National Consensus Commission about their objections with several issues that came up in the consolidated draft of the July charter.
The party says the proposal of placing a document, prepared based on political consensus, above the constitution and keeping it beyond the jurisdiction of the court is not acceptable.
The BNP has submitted its opinions over the draft in writing to the commission on Wednesday evening. Four other parties also submitted their opinions over the draft on the same day. Following that, the commission said the deadline to submit the opinion had been extended up to 3:00 pm Friday.
Salahuddin Ahmed, a member of the BNP standing committee, raised questions on Tuesday about the opening statement and the three clauses of the commitment section in the integrated draft of the July National Charter.
BNP sources said those were mainly the issues that had been conveyed to the commission in writing. The party disagreed with placing the July Charter above the constitution, barring courts from questioning the charter, and leaving the responsibility of interpretation solely to the Supreme Court.
In addition, opinions were given on some minor issues and wording of the charter. The BNP hoped that the July National Charter 2025 would be formulated, signed, and implemented on the basis of consensus. Through discussions with all concerned parties, a valid, legal, and constitutional process could be found for implementing the charter.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, “Several issues in the commitment section, in particular the proposals to place a political consensus above the constitution and barring the court from questioning it, are not acceptable and reasonable. Besides, it’s not prudent to compare the July mass uprising with the liberation war.”
The commission sources said the Aam Janatar Dal, NDM, AB Party and Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis have submitted their opinions in writing over the draft of the July charter on Wednesday.
In a press release, the AB Party said that several of their opinions were reflected in the integrated draft. It added that the government could seek advice under Article 106 of the existing constitution on whether a referendum could be held for the full implementation of the constitution-related reforms.
On 29 July, the National Consensus Commission gave political parties a draft of the July Charter. Based on their opinions, an ‘integrated draft’ was prepared and sent to the parties on Saturday evening.
The method of implementing the charter or reform proposals has not yet been decided. The National Consensus Commission is holding discussions with experts on the matter. Talks with the political parties on this issue may begin next week.