Efforts to bring unelected people to state responsibilities: Fakhrul
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Photo: Collected
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has commented that the recommendations of the Reform Commission contain an unreasonable effort to appoint unelected people to state responsibilities in the future.
He said this at an urgent press conference called at the BNP Chairperson's office in Gulshan on Saturday (March 22) at 11 am.
Mirza Fakhrul said that one thing has emerged from the options/choices in the spreadsheet sent by the National Consensus Commission that the issues that could have been prepared have been asked to be answered in the form of leading questions without making proposals. For example, do we want the proposals to be implemented through the Constituent Assembly or not? Say yes or no. But first we have to decide whether we agree with the proposals of the Constituent Assembly? Similarly, whether we want the proposals to be implemented through the elected parliament as 'referendum', 'Constituent Assembly and Legislative Assembly', etc. Say yes or no. Although the Commission's recommendations on the 'Preamble' of the Constitution included very important issues, they were not mentioned in the spreadsheet.
He said that although the spreadsheet mentioned about 70 proposals, the number of recommendations in the main report was about 123. Similarly, although the main report of the Electoral Reform Commission mentioned about 150 recommendations, only 27 issues were mentioned in the spreadsheet, most of which were related to constitutional reform. Therefore, we think that adding our opinion on the main recommendations to the spreadsheet can avoid confusion.
The BNP Secretary General said that there are similarities between the status of the National Consensus Commission's spreadsheet and the statements of the commission members at different times and the statements of certain political parties, which may raise questions in the public mind that all the issues are part of a pre-determined action plan that is in the interest of democracy.
Stating that BNP has laid the foundation for 31-point reforms, Mirza Fakhrul said, various proposals and opinions on post-fascist state reforms are emerging through the report of the Reform Commission, the main basis of which was laid by BNP long before the mass uprising on July 13, 2023, through its 31-point proposal for democratic reforms of the state structure. The reform proposals must be accepted and implemented through an inclusive broader unity of these democratic forces. An elected parliament is the only appropriate forum to provide a constitutional and legal basis for the reform proposals as per the people's expectations.
Stating that the existing anti-fascist national unity is the main driving force of this country and the people of the country, he further said, this country must be moved forward by keeping this unity intact, there is no alternative to it. The practice of this unity must be made our political culture. We cannot take any step that destroys or cracks the anti-fascist national unity and mass unity. Therefore, the interim government must maintain the position of maximum neutrality. A vigilant eye must be kept on ensuring that the agenda of any group to gain political benefits does not become part of the government's action plan. BNP Standing Committee members Mirza Abbas, Salahuddin Ahmed, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, Selima Rahman and others were also present at the time.
