July Charter: Greater uncertainty about implementation under elected govt

More than half of the country’s population is unsure whether the government formed after the upcoming national parliamentary elections will implement the July National Charter. Only one in four people believe that the elected government will implement it.

This opinion emerged from the “National Public Opinion Survey 2025 on Important Socio-Political Issues”, conducted at the initiative of Prothom Alo. The survey was carried out for Prothom Alo by the private research firm Keymakers Consulting Limited.

Respondents were asked how much the next elected government would implement the July Charter. 57.3 per cent said they were not sure. 4.3 per cent believed the elected government would not implement the charter at all, and 12.6 per cent thought it would be implemented only to a small extent. 19.2 per cent believed the government would implement the charter partially, while 6.6 per cent thought it would be fully implemented. In total, 25.8 per cent of respondents believe the next government could implement the July Charter to some extent.

The July National Charter is a document prepared based on the discussions of various political parties that were active in the July mass uprising, aimed at reforming different sectors of the state. After long discussions at the National Consensus Commission, various parties signed the July Charter on 17 October at a ceremony held at the South Plaza of the National Parliament.

There are differences in positions among several parties, including BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizen Party (NCP), on various aspects of the July Charter. In particular, there have been ongoing debates on the legal basis of the charter, whether a public referendum should be held before or after the election, and whether the upper house of parliament will be formed through proportional representation (PR). The BNP supported holding a referendum on election day and forming the upper house based on the lower house seats, while Jamaat and NCP took the opposite stance.

Amid this situation, on 13 November, President Md Sahabuddin issued the “July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order, 2025.” According to the order, a public referendum will be held alongside the parliamentary election, and the upper house of parliament will be formed through the PR system.

The July National Charter contains a total of 84 reform proposals. Of these, 48 proposals are constitution-related, including limiting the prime minister’s term and expanding the president’s powers.