Bangladesh’s interim govt seeks 'united political guidance' on July Charter referendum

An emergency meeting of the Advisory Council has asked for political parties to resolve disagreements on the referendum and July Charter implementation

Bangladesh’s interim government has sought guidance from political parties over the implementation process for the July Charter and holding a referendum on it, asking them to resolve their differences and come to a united agreeement.

An emergency meeting of the Advisory Council on Monday decided to seek the unified guidance of the “anti-fascist” parties.

At a press conference held at the Chief Advisor’s Office after the meeting, Law Advisor Asif Nazrul outlined the details.

He said, "An emergency meeting of the Advisory Council was held on the July Charter formulated by the National Consensus Commission (NCC) and issues related to its implementation. The meeting thanked the National Consensus Commission and political parties for establishing consensus on reforms and for establishing consensus on many issues."

He said that the meeting of the Advisory Council discussed the finalisation of the July National Charter (Constitutional Organisation) order proposed by the NCC and the arrangement of the referendum and its content.

The council expressed the opinion that it is urgent and necessary to take a final decision in light of the proposals of the NCC on when the referendum will be held, what its content will be, and what steps will be taken regarding the notes of dissent mentioned in the July Charter.

Professor Asif Nazrul said, “In these cases, the long-time allies of the anti-fascist movement are urged to discuss among themselves and provide unified guidelines to the government as soon as possible, if possible within the next week.”

He said that the Advisory Council reiterated the government's determination to hold the general election in the first half of February.

Despite long discussions at the NCC, differences of opinion persist on the recommendations for certain state reforms between different parties.