11-party alliance warns of protests over reform council session

The 11-party alliance on Saturday warned of launching street protests if the government fails to convene the Constitutional Reform Council session on Sunday to implement the July Charter.

The warning was issued by Hamidur Rahman Azad, assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and coordinator of the alliance’s liaison committee, at a press conference following a meeting of the committee at the party’s central office in Dhaka.

“We have decided in today’s meeting that if the government does not call the council session tomorrow to implement the July Charter, we will be forced to take to the streets,” Azad said.

He added that the alliance’s top leaders would soon meet to determine further programmes if the demand is not met, and that a roadmap for the movement would be announced on March 28.

Criticising the government’s handling of the referendum and election process, Azad also claimed that two votes had been held on the same day and both received approval from voters.

“According to the results, two general sessions should have been convened, but only one has been called,” he said.

He further alleged that members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had signed the July Charter and supported the referendum but later refused to take the oath related to constitutional reforms.

“They signed the July Charter and campaigned for a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum, but later backed away. This is a betrayal with the nation,” he said.

Azad also criticised the government for appointing administrators to city corporations and making administrative reshuffles, claiming such steps indicate attempts at “election engineering.”

Several senior leaders of the 11-party alliance liaison committee were present at the press conference.

RAS/MHK