Consensus Commission has no legal authority to recommend or implement a national charter: Farhad Mazhar
A new constitutional process should have been initiated immediately after the uprising, he says
The so-called Consensus Commission holds no legal authority to recommend or implement any national charter, poet Farhad Mazhar said today (10 November).
"Only a constituent assembly or a referendum by the people can grant constitutional validity to a national charter," he said while speaking at a discussion.
The discussion titled 'Challenges of Forming a New Bangladesh' was organized by the Center for Democracy and Peace Studies at the VIP Lounge of the National Press Club in Dhaka.
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At the event, Farhad Mazhar criticised the government, saying that although the Sheikh Hasina administration fell briefly during the mass uprising on 5 August, the people faced "extreme betrayal" between the 5th and 8th.
A new constitutional process should have been initiated immediately after the uprising, he added.
"By taking oath under Sheikh Hasina's constitution and preserving the old state system, the participants of the movement were effectively defeated on the 8th. What was preserved was Sheikh Hasina's state, not the formation of a new state," Mazhar said.
He stressed that democracy is not merely about elections, but about implementing the collective will of the people.
"If the people are the source of power, does it end after they vote once? A constituent assembly is needed to form a new state. This assembly should decide all constitutional, legal, and state formation matters," he added.
Mazhar described the current government as an advisory, rather than an interim, government.
