July Charter is in tatters

BNP’s rejection of constitutional reforms bodes ill for Bangladesh’s future

Alok Tiwari

The sweeping victory of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in that country’s general elections and installation of its government is a welcome return to democracy. The good thing about the outcome is that Bangladeshi people have chosen a secular party to lead them, firmly sidelining the 11-party alliance led by the more communal Jamaat-e-Islami. Jamaat had been the main force behind hate campaign against minority Hindus in the country that resulted in mass persecution and several killings. If Jamaat had captured power, Bangladesh was set to slide deeper into Islamic fundamentalist abyss. The new government is expected to deal firmly with violence against minorities if only to burnish the country’s image as an emerging modern nation.

However, that is about where the positives end. Elections in Bangladesh were not about merely installing a new government. They were also supposed to usher in new constitutional reforms that would ensure that circumstances that resulted in popular uprising of July 2024 were not repeated. That uprising led to ouster of Sheikh Hasina as prime minister and her exile in India. These reforms had been codified in July National Charter. They were championed by Mohammed Yunus, the head of caretaker government that was installed following the Gen Z uprising.

The charter was put to vote parallelly with the elections and won a bigger approval from the voters than the BNP. It secured a nearly 70% yes votes which is more than what any party has won in any elections. Following this, a Constitution Reforms Council has been formed to discuss and further refine it and then incorporate the provisions in the Bangladeshi constitution. BNP was always reluctant to go along with the charter. Following its massive victory, it has simply refused to be part of the process. Its newly elected MPs have taken oath as members of parliament but have declined to be member of the CRC. While other parties have joined the CRC, it will remain defunct in the absence of BNP members.

The charter aims to avoid concentration of power in one person or one party for long. This is meant to prevent capture and manipulation of institutions like judiciary and the election commission by the government of the day. Among other things, the Charter provides for creation of an upper house of parliament to be filled on the basis of proportional representation instead of the first past the post system that gives disproportionate power to the victorious party. It also provides a strict two-term (10 years) limit for a prime minister.

There are also provisions that would keep appointments on the judiciary and the election commission outside the sole purview of ruling party. Instead, they would be made by panels having wider representation including the chief justice and members of opposition. This would ensure these institutions remain free from influence of the executive. One of the main reasons why people revolted against Sheikh Hasina’s government was that it exerted undue influence on these two. This resulted in judiciary sending to jail or even handing out death sentences to Hasina’s political opponents while looking the other way at the transgressions of ruling party members. Same was the case with election commission.

The reason BNP is giving in abandoning the Charter and ignoring the referendum on it is that there are no provisions of either in the constitution. It is pleading supremacy of parliament that it now completely controls. This may be technically true, but it is a disingenuous argument. If letter of constitution alone is to be followed, then the elections that got BNP to power themselves are not legitimate. They were not conducted under a constitutionally elected government. If BNP is claiming legitimacy based on those elections, then it should also honour the overwhelming support shown to constitutional reforms through the referendum. To accept one part of the verdict and reject another is plain duplicitous.

BNP is looking at short term ease of governance. When you have brute majority in parliament then it is just easy to have your way without being troubled by pesky judges or difficult election commissioners. But it is precisely absence of these checks that results in political corruption. Tarique Rehman should learn from history of his own country including his own party. All the governments, right from the very first one led by country’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, had gone astray without essential checks on their power. Their overreach resulted in popular or military rebellion, often accompanied by gory assassinations.

It is true that constitutions of several countries allow political executive to have a say in appointments on supposedly independent institutions too. These provisions were drawn up when even scoundrels acted with some restraint. They are meant to ensure that nobody particularly obstructive comes to occupy the key positions. Political morality mandated that governments appoint people who were amenable to their thinking without being brazenly partisan. The extreme protection granted to the people appointed was meant to ensure that once in office they could act without fear of even government of the day.

In the modern age though, political morality has been at a discount worldwide. Whether in US or in India or in Bangladesh, institutions have seen their credibility eroded. Quality of people on them has declined and so has quality of their behaviour. Governments today are seeking not just favourable but servile behaviour from institutions that are meant to be at an arm’s length. Hence, constitutional provisions that take control of them away from executives make sense, more so in Bangladesh given the propensity of its governments to veer towards autocracy. Tarique Rehman can embrace the changes and lead Bangladesh into a new era that can be an example for others. By sacrificing some power now, he could be his country’s hero for the ages. Too bad he is following the same old path that has often led to ruination.

This column appeared in Lokmat Times on Feb 19, 2026