NN Online:
Jamaat-e-Islami deputy chief Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher has said that the reform proposals discussed by the National Consensus Commission (NCC) will have no meaning unless they are legally binding and enforceable.
“Without legal grounding, the proposals will have no value to the people,” Taher said during a session on women’s representation in parliament held Wednesday at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, marking the 22nd day of the NCC’s dialogue series.
Expressing frustration over the draft charter circulated a day earlier, Taher questioned the commission’s intentions. “The draft says reforms will be implemented within two years, but there’s no clarity on the government’s term or the commission’s authority. Does the current government plan to stay for another two years?”
He warned that unless the reforms are made legally binding, the entire dialogue process risks becoming futile. “We assumed this process would produce enforceable changes. If it remains only advisory, the people won’t accept it.”
Referring to a previous agreement between the commission’s chairperson and BNP leaders, Taher accused the commission of failing to follow through. “Breaking promises is not just political dishonesty—it’s an insult to the people.”
Taher added that Bangladesh’s political history shows that legal mechanisms can be devised when there’s a will. Citing the examples of former leaders like Ziaur Rahman and HM Ershad, he said they navigated legal paths to enact changes and pass laws.
“There is still time to provide legal foundation to the proposals,” he said. “We want a meeting with legal experts to explore how this can be done. If not now, then at a later stage—but the opportunity must be kept open.”
“If this charter lacks legal enforceability, it’s nothing more than a symbolic document,” he concluded. “And we will not sign anything that holds no real significance for the people.”
