Draft amendment proposes upper house without PR, curtailed powers, and a Vice-President; Saki says not ‘finalised’

The parliamentary special committee on constitutional amendments has proposed forming an upper house based on the number of seats political parties win in the lower house, rather than their share of the popular vote.

It has also proposed creating the post of Vice-President, who would chair the upper house, while significantly curtailing the powers envisaged for the chamber under the July National Charter.

On July 13, the national parliament formed a 12-member Special Committee on Constitutional Amendments, chaired by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed. Although the opposition was invited to join the committee, it declined.

The committee has held nine meetings so far and is continuing consultations with various stakeholders. It has meanwhile prepared a preliminary draft outlining proposed constitutional changes.

Daily Waadaa has obtained a copy of the draft, which shows that the referendum proposals under the July Charter will not be implemented verbatim. One of the most significant departures concerns the formation of the upper house.

However, Zonayed Saki, state minister for planning and a member of the constitutional amendment committee, told Waadaa that nothing had been finalised.

He said the draft was essentially a preliminary proposal prepared in light of the July Charter and the BNP's note of dissent.

"As the committee holds meetings with different sections of people, they are offering various opinions, which are being incorporated. That does not mean any of those proposals have been finalised," he said.

Saki added that the committee chairman would brief the media on the matter.

No PR in upper house

The draft proposes that the upper house, or Senate, be formed in proportion to the number of seats won by political parties, rather than the share of votes they receive in elections — a system known as proportional representation (PR).

Members of parliament from each party would select their respective Senate members.

The formation of a 100-member upper house based on proportional representation (PR) was one of four questions put to voters in the referendum held alongside the February 12 national election.

In the referendum, the “Yes” vote secured more than 62% of the votes, while the “No” vote received nearly 29%. The remaining ballots were cancelled.

The upper house’s formation was also one of the most widely discussed proposals in the July Charter, on which the BNP had a note of dissent.

The government is now moving towards establishing the upper house in line with the BNP's dissenting position.

According to the July Charter, political parties were required to publish their lists of upper house candidates before the election, with women accounting for at least 10% of the candidates.

Under the new proposal, the selection would instead be left to political parties after the election.

Powers curtailed

Under the July Charter, the upper house would have been able to review bills passed by the lower house for two months. Approval by a majority of upper house members would also have been mandatory for constitutional amendments and important matters, including international treaties.

But the current committee's preliminary proposal reduces the review period from two months to one. Constitutional amendment bills, finance bills, confidence votes, and matters relating to national security and war would not be referred to the upper house at all.

As a result, although a Senate would be established, it would have no authority to review some of the most consequential legislative decisions.

Vice-President's post proposed to chair upper house

The draft also proposes creating the post of Vice-President alongside that of President. Following a system similar to India's, the Vice-President would serve as the ex-officio chairperson of the upper house.

Although the July Charter did not propose creating the post of vice-president, the committee's preliminary draft says the constitutional chapter dealing with the president would be renamed "The President and the Vice-President".

The Vice-President would be elected for a five-year term, like the President, and could serve a maximum of two terms.

The Vice-President would assume the President's duties if the presidential office fell vacant or the President became unable to perform the responsibilities of the office. If both were unavailable, the Speaker would take charge.

Stakeholders question proposed structure

Advocate Hasnat Kaiyum, president of the Bangladesh Rastro Songskar Andolon, told Waadaa that the proposed model of the upper house would only increase public expenditure without delivering any benefits.

"Whichever government is in power will have a few more people at its beck and call. It will amount to giving formal or institutional recognition to those who flatter the government or the ruling party," he said.

Sarwar Tusher, a member of the National Citizen Party's (NCP) political council, said the upper house would serve no purpose other than wasting public money.

"The fundamental purpose of forming an upper house is to establish a system of checks and balances. If an upper house is formed in this manner, disregarding the referendum verdict, it will face a legal challenge in court," he said.

Badiul Alam Majumdar, a member of the National Consensus Commission (NCC) formed under the interim government, also said the proposed upper house would bring no benefits and would instead waste public money.

"The main purpose of forming an upper house is to provide oversight. If a government wants to do something driven by emotion or political vendetta, the upper house is supposed to act as a check. But an upper house formed in this way will serve no purpose," he said.

He also questioned the need to create the post of vice-president.

"I do not think there is any need for a new vice-president's post. When the president himself has no real role, what would the vice-president do? Besides, what would be wrong with appointing someone from among the upper house members as its chairperson? Why create a vice-president's post just to make that person the chairperson?" he said.

Saki, however, said the BNP's note of dissent on the upper house could, for now, be considered the party's mandate from the people.

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