Referring to the July Charter referendum where the “Yes” vote prevailed, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the people’s mandate must be respected, but nothing unconstitutional can be done in the process.
The current parliament was formed and sworn in under the Constitution and must function accordingly, he told the parliament.
He was speaking in the second day of the first session of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad on Sunday.
In response to a question from Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman, Salahuddin said, “There is no place for emotion here. A state does not run on emotion; it runs on the Constitution and the law.”
Explaining why no session of a Constitutional Reform Council has been convened, he said that under Article 72 such a body has no constitutional existence, so neither the prime minister nor the president can call it.
Earlier, Jamaat’s leader asked why, despite the July National Charter ordinance requiring a session within 30 days of the election, no “Reform Council” had been summoned.
In reply, the minister said Bangladesh’s Constitution does not recognise any such council, and a constitutional amendment would be required to create one.
He urged the opposition to bring the matter to the Business Advisory Committee for discussion. “Let us debate when we can introduce a bill to amend the Constitution. We are committed to implementing the July National Charter word for word, as it was signed as a document of political consensus.”
The minister added that whether the Constitution can be amended through any order outside the July Charter is a major legal question, and suggested that too should be debated in the committee.
He said, “Let us discuss, introduce a bill, and adopt it in this House on the basis of consensus. Then the state will be governed according to that Constitution.”
