CA to host all-party meeting on proclamation of July uprising today

The interim government has called an all-party meeting with political parties and other stakeholders at 4:00 pm today, Thursday, to finalise the proclamation of the July mass uprising. Chief adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus and four advisers will be present at the meeting, according to government sources.

The time and venue of the all-party meeting was announced in a press release published by the chief adviser's press wing on Wednesday night. The press wing said at around 8:15 pm yesterday that the interim government led by chief adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus has called for the meeting. The meeting will be held at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm Thursday.

However, several parties and leaders of different alliances including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami and Ganotantra Mancha, told Prothom Alo that they had not got any official invitation to join the all party meeting as of 9:00 pm yesterday.

Later, after 10:00 pm, adviser Mahfuj Alam officially invited leaders of different political parties, including the BNP, to join the all party meeting through a text message on WhatsApp. The parties said they would decide on whether they would join the meeting or not after discussions among themselves.

Speaking to Prothom Alo last night, BNP standing committee member Salah Uddin Ahmed said they would hold a meeting to decide whether to join the meeting or not. The reaction was more or less the same from the other parties and alliances. Ganatantra Mancha leader Jonayed Saki said he got the information after 10:00 pm yesterday.

Another Ganatantra Mancha leader Saiful Haque said it’s not possible to prepare a proclamation by holding a meeting all of a sudden. A discussion called on a short time notice won’t yield any outcome. He said the Ganatantra Mancha leaders have a meeting at 11:00 am Thursday. They will finalise the decision regharding joining the all-party meeting there.

Jamaat Islami also got the invitation after 10:00 pm yesterday. Jamaat secretary general Mia Golam Parwar told Prothom Alo they wanted to join the all party meeting. However, they would take decisions through discussions within the party.

Meanwhile, the ultimatum set by the Students Against Humanity (SAD) and Jatiya Nagorik Committee for the proclamation of July uprising ended yesterday, Wednesday. In that context, the leaders of the two organisations met at their office in the capital’s Banglamotor.

After that meeting, the leaders of the two organisations held a press conference at around 10:00 pm yesterday and said a delegation from the two organisations will join the all-party meeting.

The student leaders said there will be discussions with the political parties of the country in the meeting. The date for announcing the proclamation should be declared right after that. The students and people of the country won’t tolerate any delay in this regard. They would wage an intense movement in that case. SAD member secretary Arif Sohel read out the statement in writing at the press conference

Earlier, on Tuesday, interim government adviser Mahfuj Alam talked about holding an all-party meeting regarding the proclamation of the July uprising.

He said in this regard, “A document will be prepared on the basis of a consensus in the Thursday meeting. Everything will be clear after that as to when it will be declared and what would be the role of the government in issuing the proclamation.”

He further said there would be reflections of the background and expectations of the July uprising in the proclamation. The proclamation will be declared on the basis of a consensus of all political parties and sides.

Mahfuj Alam said the advisory council has been trying to prepare a draft of the proclamation based on the proclamation prepared by the students. "We talked to many groups of people and women's organisations too," he said, adding that all agreed to make the July proclamation but they did not reach a consensus over the contents of the proclamation.

However, the draft hasn’t reached all parties. Although the BNP and Jamaat received the draft, leaders of the Ganatantra Mancha and other parties have not received it officially.

The BNP leaders say there are many constitution related-issues in the draft they have received which need expert opinion. And it needs time for that. It won’t be prudent to decide anything in this regard through a short discussion, the BNP leaders say.

Four advisers of the interim government are likely to be present along with chief adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus. They are – law adviser Asif Nazrul, industry adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, environment adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan and adviser Mahfuj Alam.