National Consensus Commission has finalised the July National Charter-2025 with some changes in the pledge section. The Consensus Commission meeting finalised the charter after reviewing the recommendations received from political parties to determine the method of finalising and implementing it. Now, it will be sent to political parties with the opinions of experts on the final opinion.
The meeting held at the Consensus Commission office in the National Parliament Building on Wednesday was presided over by Commission Vice-Chairman Professor Ali Riaz. The meeting, moderated by Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser (Consensus Commission) Monir Haider, was attended by Commission members Dr. Badiul Alam Majumder, Justice Md. Emdadul Haque, Safar Raj Hossain and Dr. Md. Ayub Mia.
Meeting sources said that several parties submitted their opinions on the charter on Wednesday as well. The draft mentioned that the charter should be placed above the constitution and that the charter cannot be questioned in any court. However, some linguistic changes have been made in the final draft to the commitment mentioned in the joint draft. In addition, the decision to include it in the charter if there is a consensus on the implementation method has also been withdrawn. Taking these opinions into account, the commission has decided to meet again with experts.
Sources concerned said that the draft of the charter has been finalised based on the opinions of the parties. The final draft will also have three parts. The first part will contain the background of the charter, the second part will contain the consensus and decided proposals, and the third part will contain the commitment to implement the charter. However, the July Charter will not mention the method of implementing the reform proposal. A separate proposal in this regard will be sent to the government.
It is worth noting that the Commission has already held an informal meeting with 28 political parties to finalise the national charter. In this process, the commission invited political parties to express their opinions on the method and process of implementing the charter. So far, opinions have been received from 26 parties.
Sources say that there are strong disagreements among the parties on several issues, including placing the July Charter above the constitution, referendum, and the introduction of the PR system. In addition to receiving expert opinions to resolve these disagreements, the Consensus Commission held a third round of dialogue with political parties in two parts on Sunday and Monday.
The meeting brought different opinions from the parties on the method of implementing the charter. These include referendum, presidential proclamation, constituent assembly, implementation through the next parliament, etc.
However, no consensus could be reached on the issue of implementing the recommendations related to constitutional amendments in the third round of dialogue. However, almost all parties said that the reform proposals that can be implemented now without amending the constitution can be done by the interim government through an ordinance. Later, the commission decided that the National Consensus Commission will coordinate the opinions given by the political parties and present recommendations to the government. The government will decide how the charter will be implemented.
In this regard, Masud Rana, coordinator of the BSD (Marxist), told The Daily Observer, We have told the next elected government to implement the July Charter. But if it does not happen, we will be very unhappy.
It is worth noting that the seven-member National Consensus Commission, formed on February 12 under the leadership of Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus, began its activities on February 15. After the six-month term, the commission's term was extended by another month. The extended term of the commission will end on September 15.
