Several political parties in Bangladesh, including Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizens Party (NCP) and Islami Andolan, have raised objections to the draft of the July National Charter, local media reported Wednesday.
The parties have opposed the provision that seeks to implement reform proposals within two years of forming a government after national elections. They demanded that the July Charter be incorporated into a legal framework to ensure its implementation.
The National Consensus Commission (NCC) recently urged political parties participating in the second round of dialogue to pledge their commitment to implement the reform proposals outlined in the draft of the ‘July National Charter 2025’ within two years of assuming office.
Radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami described the proposal to enforce the July Charter within two years as dangerous. The party stated that the Charter would either be implemented by passing an ordinance or by holding a referendum.
The NCP said it would reconsider signing the Charter if there is no clarity on how it would be implemented.
Speaking to reporters in Dhaka, NCP member secretary Akhtar Hossain said, “We want to see every aspect of fundamental reform included in this draft. If it is omitted, then a decision will be made after discussing it in the party forum whether to sign it or not.”
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) indicated broad consensus with the Charter’s proposal. While the BNP wanted to discuss the formation of a caretaker government in parliament and the appointment of constitutional statutory institutions through executive law, Jamaat and the NCP strongly objected to BNP’s proposal, leading Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo reported.
Reports suggest that as the NCC plans to finalise the July Charter and complete the second phase of discussions by Thursday, the commission’s dialogue with political parties has not concluded amid disagreements among major parties.
Earlier on Tuesday, the NCC began its 21st session of second-round talks with political parties to decide on several key reform issues.
The discussions included the outline of the caretaker government, women’s seats in parliament and provisions for appointing the Auditor General, Comptroller and Ombudsman in the constitution. However, no consensus was reached on these issues either.
During the second phase, the commission discussed 20 issues, but no agreement has been reached on eight reform proposals so far.
The parties that collaborated with student leaders and Yunus to overthrow the democratically elected Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are now at odds over major reform proposals.
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