The implementation of the July National Charter remains stalled amid a debate over whether the Constitution should be amended or reformed. More than eight months after the BNP formed the government, there has been no significant progress in implementing key reform proposals.
Disagreements between the government and opposition parties have left the charter in limbo.
Analysts say a genuine opportunity had emerged to build a democratic state.
However, the current situation surrounding the charter’s implementation is deeply disappointing. They stress that long-term consensus involving all political stakeholders is essential to overcoming the impasse.
The government’s position is that the reform proposals should be implemented through constitutional amendments. Opposition parties, including Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP), however, demand that the proposals approved in the referendum be implemented in their original form.
Amid the dispute, they have also declined to join the special committee formed by the government.
More than a year has passed since political parties signed the July National Charter, but there has been no visible progress in implementing its key reform proposals. Instead, several reform initiatives undertaken by the interim government were scrapped after the BNP came to power.
A fresh dispute has also emerged between the government and opposition parties over how to implement the proposals approved in the referendum.
The July Charter was signed on 17 October last year following nearly nine months of dialogue led by the National Consensus Commission, with 30 political parties taking part.
It included major proposals such as limiting the prime minister’s powers, establishing a balance among the executive, legislative and judicial branches, forming an upper house based on proportional representation, reinstating the caretaker government system, changing the appointment process for constitutional bodies and limiting the prime minister’s tenure to a maximum of 10 years.
On 13 November, the interim government issued an order to implement the charter. However, after taking office, the BNP government neither passed the Referendum Ordinance nor placed the July Order before Parliament. Instead, it formed a special committee on constitutional amendments led by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed. The committee is expected to submit its report in January.
Badiul Alam Majumdar, secretary of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) and a former member of the National Consensus Commission, believes the current situation could have been avoided if members of the Constitutional Reform Council had taken their oaths at the outset.
He told TIMES, “Had that happened, the power to carry out reforms would have been in their hands. They are playing with the fate and future of the people of this country. A genuine opportunity had emerged to build a democratic state. But the situation unfolding now is deeply disappointing.”
Meanwhile, several proposals, including secret ballots in presidential elections, approval by the upper house and changes to the appointment process for constitutional bodies, remain unimplemented.
The ordinance on the Judicial Appointment Council and the Supreme Court Secretariat has been scrapped. The initiative to establish a police commission has also made no progress. Meanwhile, appointments to the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) have been made using the executive branch’s authority.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has repeatedly said that the July Charter will be implemented to the letter. He has also urged opposition parties to join the special committee on constitutional amendments.
Jamaat-e-Islami, however, considers the initiative to reopen discussions on reform proposals already approved in the referendum through the constitutional amendment committee unnecessary.
The party’s Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair told TIMES that there was no need for further discussions in the constitutional amendment committee on issues already approved in the referendum. He described the initiative as unnecessary and ridiculous.
Jamaat and other opposition parties maintain that the reform proposals approved by the people in the referendum must be implemented in their original form. They argue that there is no scope to alter or drop the charter’s proposals in the name of constitutional amendments.
Hasnat Quaiyum, president of the Rastro Sanskar Andolon, has long campaigned for constitutional reform and changes to the state’s fundamental structure.
He told TIMES, “The government still has an opportunity to avert a crisis in the future of democratic politics. It still has sufficient time to carry out reforms within 180 days of its first working day.”
Warning that failure to implement the reforms would expose both the government and the people to dire consequences, he said, “Such behaviour is in no way normal after an uprising of this scale.”
Political analysts say long-term political consensus is essential to implementing the July Charter. An agreement between only the BNP and Jamaat would not be sustainable. All political stakeholders must therefore be involved in the process.
Mohammad Mojibur Rahman is a professor at the Institute of Education and Research (IER) at the University of Dhaka, said, “Unless the issues of consensus are properly addressed, they will not be acceptable, no matter how forcefully they are imposed. Even after the July Charter was passed in the referendum, it is not being implemented. Building consensus through dialogue is more important than imposing it by force.”
He added, “Compromise is impossible without political sincerity and a willingness to make concessions. To achieve genuine consensus, all stakeholders must be involved in the process of national unity.”
