Mohammad Shishir Monir, a member of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Central Working Committee and a Senior Advocate of Supreme Court, has stated that the elected parliament will face a legal threat if the Referendum Ordinance is cancelled.
Speaking at a press conference organised by Jamaat lawyers in front of the High Court Annex Building on Monday, Monir emphasised that the national election schedule is inextricably linked with the Referendum Ordinance.
He alleged that the government is reluctant to implement more than 20 ordinances, including those concerning the prevention of enforced disappearances, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) reforms, the Human Rights Commission, and the appointment of Supreme Court judges.
He noted that these ordinances had previously inspired hope for reform among the public and urged the government to withdraw any decision to cancel them.
Monir further mentioned that while all political parties had reached a consensus on 30 points within the National Consensus Commission formed by the interim government, the BNP is now vacillating on these agreements.
Asserting that there is no scope for the automatic cancellation of the Referendum Ordinance, he warned that if the ordinance is repealed or loses its effectiveness, the election schedule will also automatically become void.
Describing the Referendum Ordinance, Section 6 of the July Charter Implementation Order, and the schedule announced by the Election Commission as “inseparable twins,” the senior advocate argued that they cannot be detached from one another.
He maintained that cancelling the ordinance would directly damage the July Charter Implementation Order and its preamble.
According to Monir, the 30 key points of national consensus are included in the schedule of the Referendum Ordinance. He warned that its cancellation would bring the July Charter and the entire reform process into question.
He stressed that the Referendum Ordinance, the implementation order, the July Charter, and the election schedule must be considered collectively to prevent legal chaos in the country.
Concluding his remarks, Monir urged the government to refrain from “irrational and unconstitutional” decisions, declaring that any unconstitutional law passed in parliament would be challenged in the High Court.
