Bangladesh must pursue constitutional reforms while keeping the original Constitution of 1972 as the foundation, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman has said.
Part A of Article 6 of the July Charter repeatedly says these measures have to be carried out through constitutional amendments, he explained.
“That means I have accepted the 1972 Constitution as the basis. Whatever I do, I have to move forward with the 1972 Constitution before me. That is one part of my July Charter.”
Asaduzzaman was speaking as chief guest at a dialogue titled “Post-election Bangladesh: Political Promises and Reality” at the CIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka on Monday.
The Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) organised the event with representatives of the government and political parties, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists and members of civil society.
CGS President Zillur Rahman moderated the discussion.
The law minister said those who had argued for discarding the 1972 Constitution altogether would have offered a simpler route.
“If we had done what those who said the 1972 Constitution should be thrown away wanted, I could have gone down a straight line,” he said.
“But as long as the 1972 Constitution remains, I have to amend that Constitution. In going through the amendment process, I have to keep before me the points of the July Charter that we signed for reform.”
July Charter Order Questioned
Asaduzzaman also questioned the “July Charter Implementation Order” issued during the interim administration, saying it was inconsistent with the Constitution.
Explaining why an “order” had been issued rather than an ordinance, he said: “If this amounts to something equivalent to amending the Constitution, then it conflicts with the Constitution.
“An ordinace cannot be issued if it is equivalent to a constitutional amendment. That is why they did not go for an ordinance and instead issued an order.”
He then questioned the legal status of that order.
“What is the legal status of this order? Under the Third Schedule of the Constitution, the power to issue such orders ceased from the day the Constitution came into operation in 1972.
“Some laws were made through presidential orders in 1972, and those have the status of law. But it was also made clear that after the Constitution came into force, the president would no longer have the power to issue such orders.”
Asaduzzaman said laws must be passed by parliament, while ordinances can be issued when parliament is not in session.
He argued that by issuing the July Charter implementation order, the interim government had left behind a “path to division”.
‘You Have the Right to Hold Programmes’
The law minister later responded to questions raised by political leaders who had spoken earlier in the discussion.
Didarul Alam Bhuiyan, joint general secretary of Rashtra Sanskar Andolan, said his party had sought permission to hold a rally at the Central Shaheed Minar last Saturday but was denied permission because a case had been filed against one of its members.
The law minister said there was no law that could justify such a restriction unless the party itself was banned.
“There is no such law as long as your political party is not regarded as a banned political entity,” he said.
“Since your party is not banned, you can organise programmes and criticise the government there. You certainly did not enter politics to sing the government’s praises.
“You have that right, and it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that right. I hope we will address these issues.”
Constitution Reform Committee
NCP Joint Convenor Monira Sharmin raised the issue of the parliamentary committee on constitutional reform.
The law minister said the plan had been to form a 17-strong committee during the first session of parliament, with seven members from the BNP, five from the opposition alliance, and five from other political parties.
“We asked the opposition to give us five names, but they said they would provide them in the next session,” he said.
“We held repeated meetings but did not receive the names. We have now formed a 12-member committee.
“I hope that if they submit the names, we can move forward with constitutional amendments along the path of reform. We will try to incorporate any of your proposals if they are reasonable.”
Freedom of Expression, Extrajudicial Killings
Law Minister Asaduzzaman also addressed freedom of expression and extrajudicial killings.
“We are trying to move away from that culture,” he said.
“We have turned around and are trying to reach the right destination. Our pace may be slow, but look at the statistics and see what the situation with extrajudicial killings has been over the past six months.”
He also spoke about the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Act enacted during the interim government.
“I was the attorney general at the time,” he said. “The attorney general is never involved in vetting legislation.”
He said the law provided for trials over enforced disappearances both at the International Crimes Tribunal and in ordinary courts, but did not clearly specify which cases should go before which jurisdiction.
It also provided for a maximum punishment without setting a minimum sentence, he said. “The law was placed before parliament to correct these anomalies.”
Asaduzzaman said the government was trying to build a system of accountability.
“We are putting it into practice and will see how successful we can be. If it does not work, we are open to amendments.
“A law is not the Quran or the Bible that cannot be changed.”
Law Minister’s Interim Role Criticised
Gono Forum President Subrata Chowdhury challenged Asaduzzaman over his criticism of the former interim government.
“We now criticise the interim government so much. But he, the current law minister, was one of its strongest supporters,” Subrata said.
“The interim government could hardly move forward without his advice, and it trusted him.
“After doing all these things on behalf of the interim government, he has now joined this government and says he does not have that much power. We saw then how much power you had.”
Jatiya Party Secretary General Shameem Haider Patwary said many figures associated with the “spirit of July” had gradually disappeared from the political scene.
“We have gradually seen many people who embodied the spirit of July disappear completely. Now the spirit of July itself is also disappearing,” he said.
He argued that judicial reform had been the most urgent element of the broader reform agenda.
Bangladesh JaSaD Presidium Member Mushtuq Husain said his party had not signed the July Charter and had opposed the referendum.
“A referendum should take place after constitutional amendments,” he said. “There was language there that openly sought to discard the 1972 Constitution.”
He also strongly criticised Ali Riaz, who headed the Constitution Reform Commission.
Questions Over Foreign Policy
Sohrab Hasan, editor of the news outlet Charcha, raised questions about the government’s current foreign policy.
“The ruling party is silent about the US trade agreement, and so is the opposition,” he said. “We do not know where the government is heading in foreign policy.
“When war was imposed on Iran, our foreign ministry issued a statement as though Iran itself was responsible for the war.”
Prime Minister’s Political Advisor Zahir Uddin Swapon blamed the current energy problems on what he described as the previous government’s “political legacy”.
He argued that the crisis could have been avoided if the previous government had focused on extracting domestic energy resources such as gas instead of pursuing an import-dependent policy.
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