- Full reports on reforms by Jan 31
- Talks with parties by mid-Feb
- Govt circular today extending six commissions' tenure by one month
A nomenclature update as 'Janoganotantric Bangladesh' through constitutional overhaul has been proposed among other recommendations like changes to the fundamental state principles, bicameral parliament, and curtailed of power of the prime minister.
Decentralisation of the judiciary with high court benches in divisions and the formation of national constitutional council for making appointments to key constitutional posts are also among the constitution-reform commission recommendations.
The reform commission on constitutional reform has also proposed reintroducing interim government to hold general election in the post-uprising Bangladesh.
It also stipulates that none can be prime minister for more than two terms and the tenure of parliament will be 4 years instead of the present 5 years.
Chairman of the commission Prof Ali Reaz submitted its report Wednesday to Chief Adviser of the interim government Professor Muhammad Yunus who sees in it seeds of a new national charter upholding the spirit of the 'July Revolution'.
In a significant move, the commission proposes omitting three of the five existing basic state principles: socialism, secularism and nationalism.
The commission has proposed social dignity, social justice, pluralism, equity, and democracy as basic principles.
Its proposal says the parliament will be composed of two houses-lower house which will be named National Assembly and upper house which will be named Senate.
The members of the lower house of the bicameral parliament will be elected directly and the members of the upper house will be elected through proportional votes.
One recommendation also reduces the minimum age for contesting parliament polls to 21years from existing 25 years.
About the formation of the lower house it says the number of seats in the assembly will be 400 instead of present 300 as100 seats will be reserved for women, who will be elected through direct elections contested by only women candidates.
According to the recommendations a lawmaker cannot hold more than one post out of the three positions which are prime minister, leader of the house and head of a political party.
It also proposes that the political parties have to nominate 10 per cent of their candidates for the lower house from the youth.
The recommendations say a lawmaker from the treasury can vote against his party in the lower house except during the voting for passage of the Finance Bill.
The commission also proposes reducing the tenure of the president from 5 years to 4 years, and introduction of an electoral college for electing the President.
Members of the both Houses of parliament, district council representatives and city council representatives will be the members of this electoral college.
About the interim government for holding elections the proposals say a 15-member interim government will be formed 15 days before the end of the tenure of the parliament.
And if the parliament is dissolved immaturely, it will be formed within 15 days.
This interim government will be headed by chief adviser who will run the operation of the interim government with maximum 15 advisers.
The commission proposes forming the National Constitution Council to recommend names to the president for appointment in the constitutional posts like the Chief Election Commissioner and other commissioners of the EC, Attorney- General, ACC commissioners including ACC chief, Chief of the Army.
The commission also proposes to set up high court bench in all the divisions of the country to decentralise the judiciary.
Four reform commissions including the constitutional one submitted Wednesday their reports recommending basic changes and the post-uprising interim government instantly constituted a highest-level panel for national consensus building on the restructuring.
There is no way to implement reform proposals without political consensus, advisers of the interim government said after the reports were handed to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
In this regard, the National Consensus Commission, led by the head of interim government, Professor Yunus, was formed to initiate dialogue with the political parties and other stakeholders, Law Adviser Prof Asif Nazrul told a briefing organised by the Chief Adviser's press wing.
He was flanked by adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan and Asif Mahmud. Press Secretary to the CA Shafiqul Alam moderated the briefing.
The heads of 6 core reform commissions have been drawn in the national consensus commission, he added.
Four of the reform commissions submitted their recommendations Wednesday and by January 31 the complete reform proposals will be submitted by all the six commissions.
Earlier in the day, the chiefs of four reform commissions-Constitutional Reform Commission, Electoral Reform Commission, Police Administration Reform Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Reform Commission-submitted their reports to Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus who said a national charter on the basis of recommended reforms and consensus will be framed for the pos-uprising Bangladesh.
The press meet was told that dialogue with the political parties will be held by mid-February to reach consensus on the reform proposals broached by the reform commissions.
"The government will formulate necessary laws and rules and implement those after reaching consensus," Dr Asif told the journalists as the depths and dimensions of state reforms widen.
He made it clear that the implementation of the reform proposals depends mainly on the consensus of the political parties.
Dr Asif reminds that Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in his address to the nation on December 16 said it might be possible to hold the elections by the end of 2025 after completing minor reforms while it might take at least six more months if the expected level of reforms is done.
When the talks will begin with the political parties based on proposals of the reform commissions, the government will try to identify what the minimum reforms and what the expected reforms are, he said.
Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan said the interim government is hopeful about initiating formal talks with political parties next month for reaching a consensus on reform agenda. "I think talks with political parties can begin formally in the middle of February."
She said consultations with the political parties had already begun informally as the political parties as they have submitted their written proposal on reforms.
Law teacher-turned Law Adviser of the interim government Asif Nazrul, however, said it might be possible to open formal talks with political parties in the first week of February if necessary works on the submitted reports are completed.
Ms Rizwana said the government will issue a circular Thursday (today) to extend the tenure of the six commissions by another one month so that they can identify the priority areas of the reforms after the dialogue with the political parties.
Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain said the reforms will be carried out to implement the vision of the July Revolution, which was to abolish the fascist governance system.
Responding to a question, the law adviser, Asif Nazrul, said: "I want to assure that the activities regarding the trial of the perpetrators of July killings are going on smoothly."
He also said that the government is committed to ensuring international standards in the trial which involves the ousted head of government, Sheikh Hasina, and the entire hierarchy of her long-serving regime.
mirmostafiz@yahoo.com