Several political parties, which participated in the National Consensus Commission dialogue, submitted their opinions on the draft of the July Charter on Thursday.
The parties are: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), and BaSoD (Marxist). However, BNP, AB Party, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, NDM, Jatiya Gano Front and Aam Janata Dal submitted their opinions on Wednesday.
Paban Chowdhury, public relations officer of the National Consensus Commission, disclosed this information to the media on Thursday.
The July charter contains a background, 84 proposals and eight commitments.
Commitment number eight of the charter calls for implementing all feasible recommendations before the elections without delay. However, the draft does not specify which proposals are feasible.
According to a party source, Jamaat has agreed to give precedence to the July Charter over the constitution and not to raise questions in the court. At the same time, Jamaat has agreed to specify the recommendations that can be implemented quickly.
Jamaat has agreed to incorporate all the provisions, principles and decisions of the July Charter into the constitution. At the same time, the party also agrees that the provisions/proposals/recommendations of this Charter shall prevail over any differences in the existing constitution or any other law.
The party also agrees to support the decision not to raise questions in court, while the jurisdiction for the final resolution of the charter rests with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.
Jamaat has expressed its opinion to clarify them. At the same time, the party has also asked for a legal basis for the July Charter.
At the same time, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Hamidur Rahman Azad has identified several 'controversial issues' and 'inconsistencies' in the draft.
"We agree with the commitment part. However, we recommend that the commission identify immediately implementable reform issues and specify a timeframe in the commitment," he said.
Without giving details, Khilafat Majlis Secretary General Ahmed Abdul Quader said that his party strongly recommended the implementation of all clauses of the National Charter on a legal basis.
Responding to a question regarding constitutional reforms, Abdul Quader said, "We have recommended issuing an ordinance to reform the constitution."
He said that his party opposes a referendum because the process is time-consuming.
JSD has called for the July Charter to be included as a separate chapter in the constitution.
The party has suggested deleting Article 4 of the pledge, which states that the declaration cannot be questioned in any court.
LDP has opposed Section 4 of the pledge part of the draft, which proposed to repeal Section 7(a), Section 3 of the Constitution.
"We have recommended that the Declaration of Independence of 10 April 1971 should be protected through Article 7(a). We have expressed concern over the mention of only the Appellate Division as an interpreter of the July Charter in the Commitments section," said LDP Secretary General Redwan Ahmed.
"There is a defined legal process for seeking clarification from the Appellate Division, which is absent in the commitment part. In addition, we strongly oppose Section 4 of the commitment part, which states that the July Charter cannot be questioned in any court."
Redwan also said that he proposed implementing the charter within two years after the formation of the next parliament.
Regarding the pledge, the BaSoD Marxists said, "How will the Supreme Court provide an explanation if the necessity of any proposal or recommendation cannot be questioned in court?"
They demanded an explanation from the commission regarding this.
The party does not consider the proposal that the July Charter cannot be questioned in court democratic. Again, the language in which the priority of this charter has been expressed in all cases (all laws and the constitution) is also not very thoughtful, said the BaSoD Marxist.
The party believes that there can be discussions on ways to implement this charter, but declaring it as the highest document of the state does not set a good example.
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