NCP to go to Jamuna this evening to sign July National Charter

The National Citizen Party (NCP) is finally set to sign the July National Charter.

A six-member delegation led by the party’s convener Nahid Islam and member secretary Akhter Hossen will go to Jamuna, the residence of chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus, at 6:00 pm today, Monday, to sign the charter.

The information was conveyed in a message sent to the media by the NCP shortly after 1:15 pm today.

Last Thursday (12 February), alongside the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) elections, a referendum was held on implementing the constitutional reform proposals included in the July National Charter.

The ‘Yes’ vote prevailed, receiving more than twice as many votes as ‘No’. The victory of ‘Yes’ has opened the way for implementing the proposed fundamental reforms of the state.

Following the referendum result, the NCP, formed by young leaders of the July mass uprising, is now moving to sign the July National Charter. The party had actively campaigned in favour of the ‘Yes’ vote.

According to the NCP statement, a delegation led by Nahid Islam and Akhter Hossen will go to Jamuna at 6:00 pm today to sign the July charter. The delegation will also include central leaders Sarwar Tushar, Monira Sharmin, Jabed Rasin, and Zahirul Islam Musa.

After the fall of the Awami League government during the July mass uprising, an interim government led by professor Muhammad Yunus assumed office on 8 August 2024. The government subsequently pledged reforms across various sectors of the state.

To that end, in the first week of October 2024 the government formed reform commissions on the constitution, the electoral system, the judiciary, the anti-corruption commission, the police, and the public administration. Later, a few more commissions were established to recommend reforms in other sectors.

Among the recommendations of the first six reform commissions, 166 were identified as significant. To build consensus on these with political parties, the National Consensus Commission began its work on 15 February last year.

Following extensive discussions with 30 political parties, agreement was reached on 84 reform proposals, which were incorporated into the July National Charter.

Of the 84 proposals, 48 are related to the constitution. The remaining proposals can be implemented through government orders, ordinances or legislation. In fact, the interim government has implemented some recommendations of the reform commissions already.

However, the constitutional proposals cannot be implemented through ordinances or executive orders. The referendum was held specifically on the 48 constitutional reform proposals included in the July National Charter. Of these, 19 were identified by the National Consensus Commission as fundamental reform proposals.

The ‘July National Charter 2025’ was signed at a ceremony held at the south plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on 17 October last year. On that day, 24 political parties and alliances, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, signed the charter.

Chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus and members of the National Consensus Commission also signed it. Another party signed subsequently. However, the NCP did not attend the signing ceremony and had not signed the charter until now.

On the eve of the signing ceremony last year, Professor Ali Riaz, vice-chairman of the National Consensus Commission, said at a press conference that any political party that did not sign the charter at that time would have the opportunity to sign it later.

At the time, the NCP held a press conference about not signing the charter and outlined three demands there. These included publication of the draft July Charter Implementation Order prior to the signing ceremony, and that the order must be issued by chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus.

It also stated that if the public endorsed the charter in the referendum, any notes of dissent would lose effect.

According to the referendum results, the next elected parliament would undertake constitutional reform under its constituent authority, and the reformed constitution would be titled ‘Constitution of Bangladesh, 2026’.

On 13 November last year, the president issued the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order, 2025. The referendum was subsequently held on 12 February, 2026 under that order.