National polls, referendum on same day: CA Yunus
Advisory Council has also approved the July Charter implementation order, says the chief adviser.
Chief Adviser (CA) Muhammad Yunus has said that the 13th national election and a referendum on proposals made in the July National Charter will be held on the same day.
The Advisory Council of the interim government has also approved the July National Charter (Reform of Constitution) Implementation Order 2025, he said during a national address today (13 November)
Bangladesh Television (BTV), BTV News, and Bangladesh Betar started simultaneously broadcasting the chief adviser's speech from 2:30pm.
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The CA addressed the nation after an Advisory Council meeting, which he chaired, was held in the morning to finalise the method for implementing the July Charter, referendum, election, and other important matters.
On 28 October, the National Consensus Commission submitted two alternative recommendations to the interim government on how to implement the July Charter.
One proposal suggested issuing a special order to hold a referendum on the charter's constitutional reform proposals. If the referendum passes, the next parliament would act as a Constitution Reform Council, tasked with completing the reforms within 270 days.
If it fails to do so within that time, the proposed reforms would automatically be incorporated into the constitution.
The second proposal is largely similar, except it only states that the reforms must be completed within 270 days — without specifying what would happen if the deadline is missed.
However, the Consensus Commission left the decision on when the referendum will be held to the interim government.
Political parties had already been divided over how to implement the July Charter and its reform proposals, but the submission of the commission's recommendations has intensified those disagreements.
The BNP had submitted notes of dissent on several points of the July Charter, opposing recommendations for implementation. The party has been demanding that the general election and referendum be held on the same day.
It also rejected forming an upper house under the proportional representation (PR) system.
Jamaat, on the other hand, supported forming an upper house under the PR system and wants the referendum to be held before the national election.
After the last Advisory Council meeting on 3 November, the government had given the political parties seven days to reach a consensus on the issue. However, as the parties failed to do so, the government has now decided on its own.
