Bangladesh: Jamaat-Led Alliance Threatens Agitation If Constitutional Reform Council Not Convened

(MENAFN- IANS) Dhaka, March 15 (IANS) As Bangladesh’s 13th Parliament is set to convene its second session on Sunday, the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party electoral alliance has urged the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government to immediately convene a session of the Constitutional Reform Council, warning that it will launch street protests if prompt action is not taken to implement the July National Charter, local media reported.

Addressing a press briefing on Saturday following a meeting of the alliance in Dhaka, Jamaat leader Hamidur Rahman Azad said that senior leaders of the coalition would soon meet to announce agitation programmes.

He warned that failure to convene the reform council session in line with the July Charter will not be forgiven by the nation holding the government, including the leader of the House, accountable, Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, reported.

Azad further claimed that the latest election did not truly represent the voting rights of the people.

Reports suggest that the BNP government is unfazed by Jamaat’s threat of street protests, as forming a Constitutional Reform Council is not among its immediate priorities.

Citing several BNP leaders involved with the party’s deliberations on the issue, The Daily Star reported that setting up the Council outside the parliamentary framework, in accordance with the July charter implementation order, could create legal complications.

“Rival parties are raising the issue loudly, but they are not presenting arguments on constitutional grounds,” The Daily Star quoted a BNP lawmaker as saying, who wished not to be named.

According to BNP leaders, constitutional reforms should be debated and passed in parliament, allowing elected MPs to participate and make decisions on such matters.

“We will move forward by following the constitutional process,” said a standing committee member on condition of anonymity.

The newly elected MPs from the 13th parliamentary election were sworn in on February 17, with lawmakers of the Jamaat-led alliance simultaneously taking oath as members of the proposed Constitutional Reform Council.

However, the BNP lawmakers abstained from taking the oath as members of the council, arguing that the council has no Constitutional basis.

Earlier on Thursday, during the first session of the newly-elected parliament, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman called for support and cooperation from citizens and members of Parliament, including those in the opposition, to build a self-reliant, prosperous, safe and democratic country, local media reported.

On the other hand, opposition lawmakers walked out of the parliament in protest against Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s constitutionally mandated speech, marking the start of the session, UNB reported.

The move was seen as an early setback for the smooth functioning of the House, undermining parliamentary protocol and Parliament’s constitutional position.

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