Four leftist political parties have submitted a memorandum to the National Consensus Commission (NCC), explaining their decision not to sign the “July National Charter 2025”.
The parties are Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BaSaD), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist) and Bangladesh Jasad.
The memorandum was handed over to NCC Chairman and Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Monday. The information was disclosed through a press release issued by the leftist alliance.
According to the statement, CPB General Secretary Abdullah Kafi Ratan and BaSaD (Marxist) Coordinator Masud Rana handed over the memorandum on behalf of the four parties.
The document has outlined the reasons behind their decision not to endorse the charter.
NCC Vice-Chairman Ali Riaz, member Badiul Alam Majumdar, and Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Monir Haider were present during the period.
Earlier, the four parties announced their decision to boycott the charter signing ceremony scheduled for Friday, alleging that the charter failed to properly honour the historic “Declaration of Independence” and the “Proclamation of Independence”.
The parties argued that the charter’s historical context did not accurately reflect the country’s Liberation War and political history, and that their proposed amendments were ignored.
The parties reiterated their unwavering stance on upholding the fundamental principles of the Constitution.
Speaking to TIMES of Bangladesh, NCC Vice-Chairman Ali Riaz said, “We clarified that the Proclamation of Independence has not been removed from the charter. Our dialogue with them is going on, and we are hopeful they will sign the charter soon.”
BaSaD (Marxist) Coordinator Masud Rana said they expressed their concerns in writing, stressing that the “note of dissent” must be clearly mentioned in the commitment document.
“We are open to political compromises,” he said, “but we cannot compromise on the country’s history or structural realities.”
CPB General Secretary Abdullah Al Kafi Ratan said, “There’s still ambiguity about whether the proposed principles will be added alongside or replace the existing ones.”
