Disagreements have emerged among major political parties over the date for referendum and method of the July Charter implementation, triggering a new debate in the country’s political climate.
Without an effective result, the talks between the political parties and National Consensus Commission (NCC) ended on Wednesday as political parties stuck to their guns.
BNP and its like-minded parties want the referendum to be held on the day of the national elections, while the Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP) and some other parties want it to be held before the polls.
Amid a political standoff, the commission, headed by interim government chief Muhammad Yunus, will now take its own decision over the charter’s implementation going by experts’ opinions.
Emerging form the meeting, NCC Vice-Chairman Ali Riaz told reporters, “The political parties suggested that the Consensus Commission should make decisions by considering the opinions and recommendations of the experts.”
“In this context, the NCC will integrate the experts’ opinions over the past five days, especially Wednesday’s opinions. After further discussions in the next couple of days, we will make recommendations to the government. We will also inform all the political parties and alliances that have participated in talks,” he told journalists.
Saying that an ordinance must be promulgated to hold the referendum, Ali Riaz added, “The unanimous opinion provided by the experts is that an ordinance must be formulated, and through that ordinance, the referendum must be held.”
The NCC has finalised the draft of the July Charter, collecting proposals on state reforms that political parties have been agreed upon, along with a commitment to implement them.
Ali Riaz said they would place their recommendations before the government within a few days by coordinating the opinions of political parties and experts.
“The signing ceremony of the historical document will take place on 15 or 17 October while the final report will be published on 18 or 19 October,” he said.
Ali Riaz said there will be two questions – one about the matters of consensus and the other about the note of dissent.
“The upcoming parliament will incorporate the amendments to the July Charter into the Constitution within the specified time frame,” he added.
The NCC was formed in February and held series of meetings with the political parties and other stake holders to reach consensus on 84 recommendations submitted by the five commissions on Constitution, judiciary, electoral system, public administration, and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Although the parties reach consensus on some key issues, they failed to do so on the date of holding the referendum.
