Jamaat, NCP, IAB reject draft of July Charter, call for legal foundation
Staff Reporter :
Three of the country’s major political forces-Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizen Party (NCP), and Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB) have outright rejected the draft of the proposed July Charter, calling it legally unenforceable, politically biased, and dangerously incomplete.
At the 21st day of the ongoing dialogue hosted by the National Consensus Commission (NCC) at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, the parties voiced serious reservations about both the content and process behind the charter’s formulation.
Jamaat Calls Draft “Incomplete and Dangerous”
Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher criticized the charter as “incomplete” and containing “dangerous” elements that could derail the country’s political stability if implemented in its current form.
“This draft is incomplete and parts of it are dangerous. If it’s merely a sample, there’s no need for alarm. But if this is the actual proposal, then it is unacceptable,” Taher said.
He emphasized that any political consensus must be legally enforceable, proposing either a pre-election ordinance to establish a legal framework that could later be ratified by Parliament, or a nationwide referendum to gain public approval.
Taher also disclosed that Jamaat is preparing its own version of the July Charter, which it plans to submit to the Commission. “We want to legitimize this framework through one of the two methods,” he said, warning that anything less could plunge the country into “political uncertainty.”
NCP Decries Unilateral Move, Demands Legal Grounding. Echoing similar concerns, the National Citizen Party (NCP) expressed strong opposition to what it termed the NCC’s “unilateral and premature” release of the draft charter without first settling on the six decision-making methods earlier proposed in the dialogue.
Speaking to reporters, NCP Joint Convener Javed Rasin said, “Releasing a draft before even discussing how decisions will be made is unacceptable. This is not the way to build national consensus.”
Rasin reiterated that all consensus points must be legally formalized before any election is held, either through a referendum or a Legal Framework Order (LFO) issued by ordinance.
NCP leaders also voiced concern that the NCC now appears to be tilting toward implementing the charter via Parliament-an approach they say reflects political bias, particularly after a recent meeting between Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and BNP’s acting chairperson Tarique Rahman in London.
Rasin supported a ranked-choice voting mechanism to select the head of the interim government-a proposal that, according to him, is backed by most parties except BNP and a few allies.
The NCP warned it would reconsider signing the charter if its core demands for structural reforms and legal guarantees are not met.
Islami Andolan: “Soft on Fascism, Legally Toothless”
Islami Andolan Bangladesh offered perhaps the most scathing critique, dismissing the draft as a “legally non-binding and weak” document that appears overly conciliatory toward the ousted autocracy.
Speaking after a party meeting on July 29, Secretary General Principal Hafez Maulana Yunus Ahmad said the draft entirely omits any mention of Sheikh Hasina, whom he called the “chief architect” of the previous fascist regime.
“Despite recent verified recordings of her ordering political assassinations, her name is not mentioned even once. That is unacceptable,” Yunus said.
He slammed the language of the draft as “formulaic and vague,” failing to reflect the brutality and repression that defined the fallen regime. Yunus also expressed alarm that no legal protections are mentioned for those who led the July uprising, leaving them vulnerable to future retaliation.
“The July Charter must be rooted in reality-not in polite phrases. It’s not an abstract principle. It’s a blood-soaked chapter of our history,” he said.