BNP never agreed to the Constitutional Reform Council or the PR system in the upper house of parliament, BNP General Secretary and Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Saturday.
“On the issues we did not agree with during discussions on the July Charter, we submitted notes of dissent. Those are recorded in the July Charter book,” Mirza Fakhrul said at a memorial meeting for Dr Md Abdul Quddus, former chairman of the Zia Parishad, at the Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Auditorium.
“The most important thing is that we were present in every part of the July Charter. The two from our party who signed — myself and Salahuddin shaheb — we signed everything. Before that, the July Declaration was also drafted jointly by us,” he said.
The local government minister said that while debates on the July Charter and constitutional amendments are welcome, “misinformation, falsehoods, and attempts to use these for political purposes can never be good.”
“We never agreed with this,” Mirza Fakhrul said, referring to the proposed Constitutional Reform Council. “Because there is no precedent for this. We said that elections would be held, the elected members would form parliament, and they would make the decisions. Whatever changes or amendments are needed, they will do it.”
He stated that false allegations are now being made about these issues for political gain. “We did not agree with the PR system in the upper house. We also did not agree with the matter of the Constitutional Reform Council. Everything must be done by parliament.”
The BNP general secretary rejected social media claims that his party opposes reform. “BNP is the father of reform. The movement currently being led by the 11-party alliance under Jamaat’s leadership in the name of reform aims to destabilise the country.”
He called upon everyone to work together in unity to move the country forward.
