Differences have emerged between the government and opposition in parliament over the process and scope of constitutional amendment and state reform, with both sides unable to reach an immediate decision on forming a special committee.
The situation arose on Wednesday afternoon when Law Minister Advocate Md Asaduzzaman proposed forming a special committee on constitutional amendment during the National Parliament session, with Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal presiding.
The law minister said, “The constitutional discourse that takes place in Bangladesh today, even at tea stalls — we want to have that constitutional discourse here as well. As part of that discourse, we want to form a parliamentary special committee.”
He informed that a list of 12 names has been finalised from the Treasury Bench under Rule 266, including BNP, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ganosamhati Andolan, Bangladesh Jatiya Party and independent members.
“We expect that from the Honourable Opposition side — if I go by percentage, they have 26 percent — we are asking for five names from their side,” he said, adding that if the names are submitted, the committee could be formed as early as Thursday to move forward with constitutional amendment in light of the July Charter.
Opposition Leader Shafiqur Rahman said the Chief Whip had spoken to him on the matter, but that discussions were needed among opposition parties.
“There is a conceptual difference between us. We will discuss and let you know. This will not happen just today. And this session, we cannot agree to this. Because we wanted reform. And what you are doing here is an amendment. We had differences on this matter before as well,” he said.
In response, the law minister said, “We have no problem with this. We will wait. We will move forward on the path of constitutional amendment in light of the July Charter. So if we have to wait for this, we have no problem waiting until the next session.”
The deputy speaker concluded that the Treasury Bench remains ready with a 12-member list, and a decision from the opposition will be reached through discussion.
