BNP wants state recognition for July Charter, not constitutional status

BNP has expressed its support for giving the July Charter official state recognition, but opposes including it in the constitution.

The interim government aims to incorporate the agreed points from the National Consensus Commission's dialogue—known as the "July Charter"—into the constitution. However, at a meeting of the BNP's highest policymaking body, the Standing Committee, held last night, the party decided it only supports state recognition for the Charter. 

The BNP also wants state recognition for the July Declaration.

State recognition means the government officially accepts the Charter as part of its policies, while constitutional recognition would make it part of the country's constitution.

The interim government has already sent a draft of the July Charter to 35 political parties, including the BNP, and hopes to finalise it by 5 August with their cooperation.

Sources from the BNP meeting said some members opposed the July Charter because it ignores the BNP's and other parties' contributions over the last 15 years. 

They criticised the Charter for focusing mainly on the 2024 mass uprising while overlooking enforced disappearances, killings, and repression of BNP leaders under Sheikh Hasina's rule. They highlighted that the July uprising was the result of the BNP's long struggle, during which over 400 of its leaders and activists were killed.

The meeting also discussed unresolved issues in the National Consensus Commission, including elections to the upper house, women's reserved seats, the presidential election, the power balance between president and prime minister, and the formation of a National Constitutional Council (NCC).

The BNP wants upper house seats to be allocated based on each party's share in the lower house and supports reserving women's seats by proportional representation. However, it opposes creating an NCC to oversee appointments to constitutional and statutory bodies, saying it contradicts the constitution.

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, "Just as the executive branch is accountable to Parliament, it is also accountable to the people. But holding responsibility without authority is not enough for effective governance. Restricting the executive in making appointments may create problems in the future."

The meeting started at 9pm yesterday in Gulshan and was chaired virtually by acting chairman Tarique Rahman from London.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami called the July Charter draft incomplete and warned that having an elected government implement it within two years is risky. Jamaat's Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher made these remarks yesterday during a break in the National Consensus Commission's talks with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

He stressed that the agreed issues must have a legal basis for implementation and proposed two options—either establish a legal framework through an ordinance that the elected parliament later approves, or secure final approval from the public via a referendum. Jamaat aims to ensure the structure's legal validity by either method. 

While supporting consensus, Taher stressed it must be effective and grounded in law to avoid political uncertainty for the country's future.

Javed Rasin, joint convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP), said the agreed points in the dialogue must be protected by a legal framework before the election. The next parliamentary election should follow that framework. Otherwise, the NCP will not accept the July Charter. 

He added that although the commission mentioned six decision-making procedures, it suddenly released the draft of the July Charter without discussing them, which was wrong. "We strongly oppose this," he said. "There has been no discussion on how to implement the charter, yet they published the draft — we cannot accept this."