The National Citizen Party (NCP) has claimed that BNP made a mistake by signing the July Charter without first scrutinising its implementation process. The party urged BNP to take responsibility for this misstep instead of shifting the blame elsewhere.
NCP Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary made the remarks at a press conference held at the party’s central office in Dhaka’s Banglamotor area on Wednesday.
Regarding the NCP’s position on the charter, he said, “Once the draft of the July Charter is sent by National Consensus Commission, we will decide whether to sign it after reviewing it thoroughly.”
Patwary added that the NCP would welcome the upcoming referendum, but only if it is held through a fair and transparent process.
Speaking about the party’s electoral symbol, Patwary said, “If the Election Commission is really powerful, let them allocate us a symbol other than Shapla (water lily) – we will see how far their strength goes.”
At the press conference, the NCP also placed a three-point demand, including ensuring a legal foundation for the July National Charter.
The demands are as follows – the government must ensure the legal basis of the July Charter by adopting the first draft (Proposal-1) of the implementation order recommended by the Commission, a draft of the constitutional amendment bill should be prepared and made public , and once the government approves the legally binding implementation order of the July Charter, progress can be made toward signing the document.
In its written statement, the NCP stated that July Charter is not merely a political agreement – it must rest on a strong legal framework. The party emphasized that it would consider signing the charter only after reviewing a legally binding draft of the implementation order.
The statement further noted that the Commission divided the reform process into two parts. It said non-constitutional reforms could be swiftly implemented through gazettes and ordinances, urging the government not to waste time in doing so.
The NCP stressed that constitutional reforms remain the central challenge. Therefore, the government must adopt Proposal-1 as recommended by the commission, and also calling for the removal of certain linguistic ambiguities in the proposal.
Additionally, the NCP urged the government to draft and release the constitution amendment bill approved by referendum without delay.
