Four left-leaning political parties announced on Thursday that they would not sign the July National Charter as it does not mention the four basic principles of the constitution.
The parties are the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BaSad), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist), and Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Bangladesh (JaSad).
The parties made the announcement at a joint press conference at Maitri Auditorium in the capital. They expressed frustration over being sidelined. They also cited “deliberate exclusion and serious objections” to several provisions.
“We’ve been invited along with more than 30 parties, but none of us were allowed to speak. It was a deliberate move to silence dissenting voices in front of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus,” the statement read.
The parties reminded that during the inauguration of the National Consensus Commission (NCC), the chief adviser had assured that only unanimously agreed-upon issues would be included in the final charter.
“Despite this assurance, the final copy of the charter sent to us on 14 October included points where we had formally registered notes of dissent. Moreover, the reasons for our dissent were not properly documented,” it added.
The signing ceremony for the charter is scheduled to take place at the South Plaza of the Parliament on Friday.
The parties listed several key objections violation of consensus principle, distorted historical narrative, unrealistic commitment clause, constitutional amendment ambiguity, curtailment of citizens’ rights, omission of foundational documents and omission of article 106 reference.
