The National Citizens’ Party (NCP) has strongly opposed the draft of the July Charter released by the National Consensus Commission, claiming that it was published without proper discussion on the agreed decision-making methods. The party stated it cannot accept the draft in its current form.
Speaking during a break in the 21st day of the second phase of the dialogue hosted by the commission at the Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday, NCP Joint Convenor Javed Rasin said, “We vehemently oppose this. There was no discussion on how decisions would be made, yet suddenly a draft was released. This is unacceptable.”
Javed Rasin emphasized that any reform measures agreed upon must be legally enforced before the next general election, and that the upcoming election must be conducted under those legal frameworks.
He also mentioned ongoing talks around the Ranked Choice system in relation to the caretaker government model.
According to him, there was a new proposal to form a seven-member committee — including two additional members from the judiciary — who would cast votes under this system. Javed Rasin claimed that most political parties agreed to this proposal, except for BNP and some of its allies.
The NCP leader further stated that the party would decide whether or not to sign the July Charter only after internal discussions, particularly if essential reforms to dismantle the authoritarian structure are not included or implemented.
Tuesday`s session included representatives from BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, NCP, Islami Andolon, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Ganosamhati Andolon, and over 30 political parties.
The dialogue was presided over by Commission Vice President Ali Riaz, and moderated by Monir Hayder, special assistant to the Chief Adviser. Others present included Sofor Raj Hossain, Justice Emdadul Haque, Badiul Alam Majumdar, Iftekharuzzaman, and Ayub Mia.
