Interim govt will decide on July Charter implementation now: Advisor Rizwana

Since the political parties have not sat for discussions in the past week, the government will make the decision, she says

The government will make a decision on its own regarding the implementation of the July Charter as political parties have not reached a consensus among themselves, says Environment Advisor Syeda Rizwana Hasan.

The advisor made the statement in response to a question while speaking to the media at the Secretariat on Monday.

She said, “The government has given the parties time to decide. No decision has been made. Since they did not sit for discussions within seven days, the government will make a decision. I have not heard anyone say that the government cannot make the decision.”

Stating that the government formed through a popular uprising has the authority to make such decisions, the advisor said: “The government wants 100 percent of the decisions to come through political consensus. If 90 percent comes [through consensus] but 10 percent does not, then the government has its own responsibility. The deadlock must be overcome by making decisions. And it will not be too late. We cannot waste much time with the elections coming up in February.”

After nine months of effort, the National Consensus Commission has prepared a draft of the reform proposals in the July National Charter. But in the end, differences of opinion have emerged among the political parties over its sections and implementation process, throwing the future of these reforms into dispute.

Although a recommendation has been made to legitimise the proposals through a referendum, it has stalled due to objections from the BNP, a major party. The interim government has also announced a general election in February.

Last week, the Advisory Council urged the larger parties to sit for a meeting and inform the government of their decision on the matter. Eight days since that announcement, there are indications the parties will not meet. The BNP, in particular, does not consider such a reform implementation process to be constitutional.

Responding to a question, Advisor Rizwana said: “The government’s door was always open to everyone. Now, I have not heard about the government calling everyone for fresh discussions. I think the government will clarify its position on these issues this time.”

“We are a government that has assumed responsibility after the mass uprising. Therefore, we will try to minimise our differences and make decisions. Since we are now going through a decision-making process, we will no longer bring up the issues of ‘ifs ands or buts’. We have been given a responsibility. We have to fulfil that responsibility. The people also have some expectations of us. The government will take a decision after taking everything into consideration.”

Regarding the programmes of the Awami League, whose activities are banned, she said: “The election is going to be held in February. It is now clear to the people of the country. Whenever an attempt will be made to destabilise this situation, we will try our best to bring it under control.”