Jatiya Shakti rejects constitution amendment committee, demands reform council

Jatiya Shakti, an associate organisation of the National Citizen Party (NCP), has completely rejected the special committee on constitutional amendment. The organisation said the committee is a kind of farce and that a Constitution Reform Council must be formed in line with the verdict of the referendum.

In a joint statement sent to the media on Tuesday, 3 November, its president Abu Baker Majumdar and general secretary Tahmid Al Muddassir Chowdhury said the committee is a betrayal of the people’s verdict. They said they do not recognise its formation, activities or any recommendations.

They said the people gave a clear verdict in the referendum held on 12 February. According to the Election Commission’s revised gazette, more than 47.2 million people voted “yes”.

The statement said voters consented to one path only — a Constitution Reform Council. The people decided which path constitutional change would take by voting in favour of the July National Charter Implementation Order, 2025. Under that order, the path for changing the constitution has been fixed, and there is no scope for fresh bargaining over it, they said.

They also said the ruling party had bypassed that verdict and formed an “amendment committee” in parliament. The leaders asked: if the people voted for reform, where did an amendment committee come from?

The statement described the move as an attempt to impose party-favouring cuts in place of the people’s verdict and said it is a direct betrayal of the aspirations of July.

They said who sits on the committee, how many meetings it holds and what proposals it produces are not matters of consideration for them. Discussions inside a structure whose very basis is against the people’s verdict cannot amount to reform. In their words, a correct constitution cannot be made sitting in the wrong house.

The statement placed three demands. The first is that the constitution amendment committee formed by the government must be cancelled immediately and no amendment bill may be brought on the basis of any of its recommendations.

The second demand is that a session of the Constitution Reform Council must be convened immediately in line with the referendum verdict and the July Charter Implementation Order.

The third demand is that constitutional reform must be completed through the Reform Council in accordance with the July National Charter.