The BNP government plans to bring constitutional amendments implementing the July National Charter before Parliament by the end of 2026, even as the Jamaat-led opposition bloc rejected the process and boycotted the special committee tasked with preparing the changes.
The Special Parliamentary Committee on Amending the Constitution held its second meeting at the Parliament Complex on Sunday, with Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizen Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Rastro Sanskar Andolan among the parties staying away.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, who chairs the committee, said it would meet weekly and aim to complete its report by December. The recommendations would then be sent to the Law Ministry to prepare an amendment bill for Parliament.
“The committee wants to move very fast,” Salahuddin told reporters after the meeting.
All 26 parties and alliances that signed the July Charter were invited. Fifteen attended in person, while AB Party submitted its position in writing. Jatiya Gonofront could not attend for health reasons but conveyed its support by phone, Salahuddin said.
The committee asked parties with specific proposals to submit them in writing and said its recommendations would be prepared after consulting political parties and other stakeholders.
The parliamentary panel was formed on July 13 with 12 members, with five positions left open for opposition representatives. Jamaat, NCP and other opposition parties refused to nominate members, arguing that the constitutional changes should instead be handled by the Constitution Reform Council envisaged under the July Charter process.
Salahuddin rejected allegations that the BNP was using its parliamentary majority to shape the Constitution unilaterally, calling the claim “completely untrue.”
He said the July Charter would be implemented as agreed by its signatories, but the BNP’s recorded “notes of dissent” during negotiations under the interim government would also be reflected.
The BNP had disclosed those positions during its election campaign, he said, arguing that its subsequent electoral victory gave the party a mandate for them.
A key dispute concerns the proposed 100-member upper house.
Salahuddin said seats in the chamber would be allocated proportionately according to the number of parliamentary seats won by each party.
The Jamaat-led opposition, by contrast, wants the upper house constituted through proportional representation based on each party’s nationwide vote share.
Hours after the committee meeting, Jamaat’s 11-party alliance formally rejected the initiative at a press conference at the National Press Club, saying the parliamentary mechanism bypassed the process endorsed in the referendum.
Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said the constitutional dispute should be resolved by respecting three elements: the aspirations of the July uprising, the July National Charter and the referendum verdict.
Porwar said the July Charter implementation framework envisaged MPs taking two oaths — one as members of Parliament and another as members of a Constitution Reform Council.
Opposition MPs took both oaths after the February election, while BNP lawmakers took only their parliamentary oath. That disagreement has been at the centre of the constitutional standoff since the new Parliament took office.
The government maintains that constitutional changes must ultimately be adopted by Parliament through the amendment procedure, while Jamaat and its allies argue that the referendum requires the reforms first to be handled through the proposed Constitution Reform Council.
Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman and several other ministers and committee members attended Sunday's meeting.
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