DU Correspondent :
Bangladesh needs to rewrite its constitution to repair the democratic institutions of the country and there are no effective options other than rewriting as the existing constitution in Bangladesh has created the way for an individualistic authoritarian system that cannot be overcome by reforming or amending the constitution.
Stating the reasons and needs for the rewriting, the speaker claimed “This constitution has a way of creating dictators and constitutional autocrats and thereby it is not possible to solve the problem by just amending some issues from the constitution.”
Ali Riaz, a distinguished professor of politics and government at Illinois State University, stated this opinion at a speech titled ”Bangladesh Constitution after People’s Uprising: Amending or Rewriting’. The event was organized by a newly introduced organization called Speak Bangladesh at the RC Majumdar Auditorium of Dhaka University.
He explained three reasons that help to understand the problem why it is not possible to solve the problem by amending the constitution. He said, “The Prime Minister has been given unimaginable powers in the existing constitution. Apart from the role of the PM, the person played a total of four roles including party’s chief, parliamentary party leader.”
“In 1975, a mountain of power was given in the hands of the President by establishing one party Bakshal. Later, all of these powers were given to the PM when Bangladesh entered into a prime ministerial system of government. As there is no accountability exercising that power, the person inevitably becomes autocratic,” Ali Riaz added.
Secondly, the Fifteenth Amendment shows one-third of the Constitution as ‘basic structures’ which can never be changed. It is called ‘Eternity Clause’ which no Parliament in the world has the right to do. Because the people elect them for a certain period of time. Thirdly, the balance cannot be maintained by changing some objects of the constitution.
However, Prof Ali Riaz gave personal opinion that the constitution can be rewritten by keeping the issues of the current constitution which are not against human rights and democracy and the ‘equality, human dignity and social justice’ mentioned in the 1971 Declaration of Independence can be the main basis of it.
Stating that people’s participation should be given utmost importance in rewriting constitution, Ali Riaz said, “Any constitution is a document embodying the aspirations of the people. Spain and Brazil rewrote their constitution in 1978 and 1988 respectively based on people’s demand. If the constitution cannot be rewritten in 2024, how will we understand that there has been a mass uprising?”