CA Yunus violated the July Charter he signed himself: Salahuddin
"We are committed to implementing the July Charter exactly as it was signed. Any deviation from that would amount to violating the charter. If any new elements are imposed beyond what was agreed upon, we will not accept them," he says
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed has accused Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus of violating the July National Charter that he himself had signed earlier.
In his immediate reaction to the chief adviser's national address, the BNP leader said, "The chief adviser has breached the charter that he signed on 17 October at the South Plaza of the National Parliament. By his speech today, he has clearly violated that document."
He made the remarks at his residence on Thursday (13 November) following the chief adviser's decision to hold the 13th national election and a referendum simultaneously on the same day.
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Salahuddin explained that there are significant inconsistencies and new proposals in the July National Charter (Reform of Constitution) Implementation Order, 2025, compared to the signed charter.
"Many new points have been added, while several consensus-based clauses from the charter are missing. So, the very basis of the referendum has become questionable," he said.
According to the chief adviser's announcement, the referendum ballot will present a single, comprehensive question to voters, who must cast a "Yes" or "No" vote to express their opinion on four collective constitutional reform proposals derived from the charter.
Criticising this decision, Salahuddin said, "This is a leading question — people are being forced to either say 'Yes' to everything or 'No' to everything. They're even saying that the proportion of 'yes' votes will determine the number of seats in the upper house.
"That's coercive. There's no option to vote 'yes' or 'no' separately on each issue."
He further said, "We are committed to implementing the July Charter exactly as it was signed. Any deviation from that would amount to violating the charter. If any new elements are imposed beyond what was agreed upon, we will not accept them."
Criticising the decision to form a "Constitution Reform Commission", the BNP leader said, "This decision has been newly imposed. The issue of forming the council was never part of the National Consensus Commission's agenda, nor was it a subject of national consensus."
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said the decision to hold the election and the referendum on the same day has failed to meet public expectations.
Earlier in the day, during a national address, the chief adviser said the 13th national election and a referendum on the July National Charter proposals will be held simultaneously in the first half of February next year.
He also announced that the Advisory Council of the interim government has approved the July National Charter (Reform of Constitution) Implementation Order 2025.
