Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam has threatened to withdraw its backing for the July National Charter within 48 hours of signing the document, putting the fate of the charter in balance.
Some 24 parties signed the July Charter on 17 October in the presence of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, amid clashes and boycotts by five political parties, including the student-led National Citizen Party.
Gonoforum also signed the charter on Sunday – two days later.
Experts fear that the political stalemate may deepen further if political parties start revising their decisions after failing to gain mileage.
Such a move will create a sense of discomfort and weaken the spirit of national unity ahead of the 13th parliamentary elections, slated for February next year, they say.
The fresh crisis looms as Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar on Sunday hinted at withdrawing the party’s decision on the July Charter.
“If we see that the government has broken the promise made to us, we will withdraw from the charter and will take to the streets,” he told a media outlet in an interview that was broadcast on Sunday.
Before signing the document, the interim government led by Yunus assured the fulfilment of the provisions agreed upon during talks between the political parties and the National Consensus Commission.
“The decision to withdraw from the charter will create discomfort and weaken the spirit of national unity. This would not bring a positive result for the nation as a whole,” Abdul Latif Masum, retired professor at the Government and Politics Department of Jahangirnagar University, told TIMES of Bangladesh.
“Without consensus, we may face a different political scenario altogether,” he added.
When asked, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Hamidur Rahman Azad said the July Charter must be implemented.
“The government has given a commitment that the election will be held only after the implementation of the July Charter. So, the charter must be implemented,” he told TIMES.
Leaders of the NCP and four left-leaning political parties—Communist Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Marxist), and Bangladesh Jatiya Samatantrik Dal—still refrained from signing the document despite the government’s back-door initiatives.
The NCP said they did not sign the charter due to the lack of a legal basis and an undefined implementation process.
Jamaat and its allies have called for an implementation order on the July Charter and a referendum on it by November.
Jamaat and seven other parties at a joint briefing on Sunday announced that they would hold a protest rally in the capital on 20 October, divisional rallies on 25 October, and district-level rallies on 27 October to press home their demands.
