Constitution to be rewritten to fix state institutions: Ali Riaz

Distinguished professor of politics and government department at Illinois State University, Ali Riaz, has said the constitution needs to be rewritten even through constitutional assembly if the democratic institutions are to be fixed.

He made the remark at a press conference organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) at a hotel in the capital on Thursday.

The CGS adviser presented his keynote paper and in the question-answer session, he talked on various issues including constitution, democracy and election.

Professor Ali Riaz said, "My personal view is that the constitution has to be rewritten. Without this, you will not be able to build institutions."

When asked how many terms a person can become head of the government, a Bangladesh born US professor said, " I personally think one person can become two terms as the head of the government at the most."

In reply to a question about the constitutional assembly, Ali Riaz said, "We are talking about the rewriting of the constitution as there is no scope for the amendment of the constitution. The scope of amendment of the constitution is limited as one third of the constitution is written in such a way that there is no scope to change that. There are such matters here, you can do nothing if those are removed. As a result, the word 'rewriting' is being discussed. I am talking about the constitutional assembly as a way of rewriting. I don't know whether there are any other ways."

When his attention was drawn to TIB's proposal that the same person will not be able to become the party chief, leader in the parliament and the prime minister, he said TIB has proposed that the power is not centralised to a person. These reforms are necessary. If these ways of centralised power are not stopped constitutionally, the appearance of another dictator cannot be prevented in the future.

About the disinformation of Indian media, Ali Riaz said the response to such disinformation is to publicise the real story. Different international media outlets contact me and I have asked them to go to Dhaka and see and publish stories. I will also tell the real stories."

Referring to the chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus' address to the nation calling the citizens to hold dialogue, Illinois State University professor said dialogues will be arranged, and opinions and advice of experts will be taken to establish sustainable democracy and rule of law.

He said the CGS will organise at the national and regional level in the next five months. Eight dialogues will be held in Dhaka. The dialogue include constitution, human rights, constitutional body, justice system, law enforcing agencies, foreign debt and media.