Govt committed to implementing July Charter: Salahuddin

“Some political parties are trying to create confusion in the field of politics through their propaganda that the BNP does not want to implement the July National Charter because it has a majority in Parliament. This is completely untrue,” he told reporters after the second meeting of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Constitutional Amendment.

Salahuddin, who chaired the meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, said the committee sought cooperation from all concerned during the discussion.

“We have said that we will implement the July National Charter word for word. We will try to bring the necessary amendments to the Constitution as soon as possible in the line with the charter that was signed (by the political parties),” he said.

Twenty-six political parties that signed the July National Charter were invited to participate in the meeting as part of the committee’s initiatives to hold talks with different stakeholders seeking their opinions over the constitutional amendments.

Of the invited parties, 15 directly participated in the meeting, while one party sent its proposals to the committee in writing on the implementation of the July National Charter.

The main opposition Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizen Party-NCP were among the parties that boycotted the meeting.

The 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami on Sunday rejected the initiative to amend the Constitution through a special committee of Parliament instead of implementing the constitutional reforms agreed upon in the July National Charter and the public verdict reflected in the February-12 referendum.

The alliance made its position clear at a press conference held at the National Press Club. Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar presented the written statement on behalf of the alliance at the press conference.

Salahuddin, also the chairman of the parliamentary special committee, said the government had made a commitment to implement the July National Charter exactly in the form in which it was signed.

He said the BNP’s election manifesto also contained some commitments beyond the July National Charter and that the people gave their mandate in favour of those commitments. These commitments would also be incorporated in the next 18th constitutional amendment, he said.

He said the special committee would hold discussions with people from different professions and sections of society, including political parties, those involved in formulating the July National Charter, representatives of the National Press Club, Supreme Court Bar Association, former judges and justices, constitutional experts, July fighters, representatives of the anti-discrimination student movement, families of those killed during the July uprising and teachers.

The Home Minister said the committee wanted to complete the process quickly and would try to hold a meeting every week.

About the notes of dissent given by BNP in some proposals of the July National Charter, he said, “We have promised that we will implement the July National Charter with notes of dissent.”

Citing the formation of an upper house as an example, Salahuddin said there were notes of dissent on some issues in the July National Charter.

“We have agreed on the formation of a 100-member upper house. Many political parties have also agreed to it. But there are differences over how the upper house will be formed. We have proposed that it be formed in proportion to the number of seats secured in Parliament (lower house), while some have proposed proportional representation based on votes. We have given a note of dissent on this issue,” he said.

Salahuddin said discussions would continue and the committee had already started preparing its report after receiving suggestions from different quarters.

“Once the report is completed, we will be able to place it before Parliament. Based on that report, the Ministry of Law will prepare the bill, which will then come to Parliament,” he said.

Regarding a political party – Rastro Songskar Andolan-- that had boycotted the meeting midway, Salahuddin said its representatives had actually attended the meeting, presented their views and then left.

Salahuddin said the Amar Bangladesh Party-AB Party submitted its views in writing, reports UNB.