'Charter change only from parliament'

FE Team | Published: October 03, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

In a refreshing, rare agreement, the ruling party and the main opposition say only parliament has the exclusive authority to amend the constitution.
The spokesmen of the largest parties were speaking at separate forums in the city Saturday on the recent comments of the new Chief Justice, reports bdnews24.com.
"Only parliament has the sole authority to implement and amend the constitution. No one else has the jurisdiction," BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain said.
"Many chief justices have given various interpretations of the constitution-they are not a part of the constitution," he said at a seminar marking the 21st founding anniversary of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
Ruling Awami League's General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam shared the same view at a conference organised by the Worker's Party of Bangladesh to press for the reinstatement of the original constitution of 1972.
"The amendment to the constitution has to come from parliament. Allowing the judiciary to make such changes will thwart democracy," he asserted.
On September 30, Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque said relevant corrections to the constitution have been made automatically after the Fifth Amendment verdict.
The Appellate Division in a landmark verdict on February 2 cancelled the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment was meant to provide constitutional legitimacy to the governments in power - military or otherwise - following the 1975 assassination of the founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.