The National Consensus Commission is going to recommend the creation of a Charter Implementation (Constitution) Order. Although it is an order, it will be in the form of a law. The order is considering adding the issue of issuing an ordinance for holding a referendum. However, the commission has not yet finalized which issues will be added to its sections and subsections.

A meeting with experts was held at the Consensus Commission office in the National Parliament Building on Wednesday to draft an order to implement the charter. It is learnt that the meeting, which started at 3 pm, failed to produce a draft of the implementation order. The commission will meet with experts again on Thursday afternoon. Earlier, they will hold a meeting among themselves in the morning.

The National Consensus Commission is going to recommend the creation of a Charter Implementation (Constitution) Order. Although it is an order, it will be in the form of a law. The order is considering adding the issue of issuing an ordinance for holding a referendum. However, the commission has not yet finalized which issues will be added to its sections and subsections.

A meeting with experts was held at the Consensus Commission office in the National Parliament Building on Wednesday to draft an order to implement the charter. It is learnt that the meeting, which started at 3 pm, failed to produce a draft of the implementation order. The commission will meet with experts again on Thursday afternoon. Earlier, they will hold a meeting among themselves in the morning.

An expert present at the meeting said, “There are discussions about what the order will be like. Because there are many details. What will be there has not been finalized yet. It is learned that the commission wants to finalize the matter in Thursday’s meeting.”

Sources said that it was roughly agreed in yesterday’s discussion that the main basis of the charter implementation order will be a mass uprising. According to the initial draft, an order will be issued first to implement the charter. A referendum will be held on the basis of an ordinance under that order.

Consensus Commission sources said that new issues came to the fore during yesterday’s meeting while finalizing the implementation of the July Charter. In this regard, new questions have arisen about what will be the basis for the next national parliamentary elections.

An expert said in the meeting that the next parliament will be given a dual role. The parliament will be the Constitutional Reform Council. The members of parliament will also perform the duties of the Reform Council. But the July Charter did not say anything about the basis on which the parliamentary elections will be held. On what basis will we hold the elections? Will there be a need to include this issue in the order? Because, according to the existing constitution, there is an obligation to hold elections within 90 days of the dissolution of parliament. That deadline has already passed. As a result, it is not possible to conduct the next national parliamentary elections following this provision of the constitution. In this case, the consensus is whether the commission has the authority to recommend under which provision the elections will be held or what the validity of the elections will be. Although these were discussed, no decision was made. In addition, it is necessary to mention what the work of the Reform Council will be. Although this question was raised, the discussion did not progress.

The meeting sources said that the referendum question was not decided in yesterday’s meeting. An expert said that further discussions will be held on the referendum question. On the other hand, the process by which the objections (notes of dissent) in the July Charter Implementation (Constitution) Order will be resolved has not been finalized yet.

Sources said that the next parliament is being given a 9-month or 270-day deadline to play a dual role, namely the Constitutional Reform Council. In this case, the parliament formed after the elections will have to complete the process of implementing the July Charter within this period. After that, the parliament will return to its normal law-making activities. According to the commission, they want to make a proposal so that the elected government cannot evade this responsibility.

Yesterday, the commission’s notification said that the National Consensus Commission held a meeting with experts to discuss recommendations related to the ways and methods of implementing the July National Charter-2025. The meeting reviewed various recommendations for implementing the charter. In addition, there was a lengthy discussion on the suggestions received from the experts. The commission will meet among itself on Thursday (today) morning and discuss these issues again with the experts at 2 pm.

Retired Justice MA Matin and Barrister Imran Siddique of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court were present as experts in the meeting held at the conference room of the Commission Office at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. In addition, retired Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury, senior lawyer of the Supreme Court Dr. Sharif Bhuiyan and Dean of the Faculty of Law of Dhaka University Mohammad Ikramul Haque participated virtually among the experts.

The discussion was attended by Vice-Chairman Professor Ali Riaz, members Dr. Badiul Alam Majumder, Justice Emdadul Haque, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Safar Raj Hossain and Dr. Mohammad Ayub Mia. In addition, Monir Haider, Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor involved in the national consensus building process, was also present at the time.

Most political parties, including BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, signed the charter on October 17. The NCP and four left parties did not sign the charter. The NCP refused to sign it because the legal basis for the charter was not given and the implementation process was not finalized. They said they would sign it once the issue was resolved.

As the term of the National Consensus Commission has been extended by another 15 days to October 31, they have said they will make recommendations to the government regarding implementation within this period.

Meanwhile, after meeting with the chief advisor yesterday, NCP convener Nahid Islam told reporters that they will sign the July Charter only when the implementation process is clear.