BNP is making some additions and deletions to the draft of the July declaration. After completing the remaining process, the party will submit its final opinion to the interim government in the next couple of days. The leaders of BNP took this decision after a long discussion on the draft at the meeting of the standing committee last Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman presided over the meeting of the highest policy-making forum at the BNP Chairperson's political office in Gulshan, Dhaka, virtually from London.

Sources at the meeting said that like the student leadership of the July Movement, BNP is also in favor of quickly finalizing and announcing the July Declaration. In the meeting, the leaders of the standing committee gave a thorough analysis and presented their own opinions on the draft of the July Declaration.

The meeting also discussed various issues including US tariffs on Bangladeshi products, women's seats in parliament, and PR system reforms. The leaders expressed concern over the US's 35 percent tariff. At the same time, they urged the Trump administration to reconsider this tariff policy.

It is learned that in the meeting, Salahuddin Ahmed summarized the dialogue of the National Consensus Commission with political parties on the issue of reforms. After this, the leaders expressed their opinions on various issues of reforms. In the meeting of the Consensus Commission, there was a consensus on increasing the number of women's seats in parliament from 50 to 100. However, there is no consensus yet on how women will be elected.

BNP standing committee members expressed their opinion that they will take a stand in favor of electing women representatives in parliament through the conventional system. The leaders also expressed their opinion on maintaining the current firm stance against elections through the PR system.

At the meeting, two members of the standing committee said that consensus has already been reached on many reform issues in the Consensus Commission dialogue. The government should quickly implement the issues on which consensus has been reached.

When asked, BNP standing committee member Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku told, "We are sincerely working on the declaration of the July mass uprising. The final decision will be communicated to the media soon."

Wahiduddin Mahmud, the interim government's planning advisor, is in charge of preparing the July Declaration. Accusing the government of being slow in this process, the July Warriors staged a sit-in in front of the Jamuna, the residence of Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, on June 30.

The National Citizens Party (NCP), a political platform of student leadership, has also recently demanded that the government issue the July Declaration by August 5. If the government fails to issue it, the NCP has even threatened to issue the July Declaration on the anniversary of the August 5 mass uprising.