NCP calls for scrapping 4 fundamental principles of ’72 constitution

The National Citizens Party (NCP) has called for the abolition of the four fundamental principles of the 1972 constitution.

“We have made it clear that we do not support retaining the Mujibist fundamental principles of ‘72. These principles must be removed,” the party’s joint convenor Javed Rasin stated.

He made the remarks today, Sunday, in the capital’s Foreign Service Academy, following discussions between political parties and the National Consensus Commission aimed at concluding earlier unfinished dialogues.

Rasin further said, “There was a proposal from the Constitution Reform Commission—to include democracy alongside equality, human dignity, and social justice as the four fundamental principles. During the meeting, political parties showed disagreement over this issue. We clearly stated that we do not support retaining the Mujibist fundamental principles of 1972. Those must be removed.”

He also noted that some political parties, due to their ideological positions, could not agree to remove these four original principles.

“We responded by saying that there is no point in discussing matters here if they contradict the spirit of the 5 August student–people uprising. Therefore, the four principles of 1972 must be excluded, and other subsequent principles may be added,” he stated.

However, no consensus was reached among the political parties on this matter.

NCP’s senior joint member secretary Tasnim Zara said that the current system requires the tenure of the prime minister to be limited. She said discussions were held on this topic, including how long one individual should be allowed to remain in office.

“We proposed that an individual should be allowed to take oath as prime minister no more than twice. But in the interest of consensus, everyone seemed to agree on a maximum of 10 years. We are flexible on the timeframe,” she added.

Today’s discussion with the National Consensus Commission included participation from 30 political parties including BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Islami Andolan, Gono Odhikar Parishad, and Ganosamhati Andolan.

Chief adviser’s special assistant Monir Haider moderated the meeting.

Other attendees included the commission’s vice-president professor Ali Riaz, members Safar Raj Hossain, justice Emdadul Haque, Badiul Alam Majumdar, Iftekharuzzaman, and Mohammad Ayub Miah.