Opposition Firm on Constitutional Reform, Set to Intensify Movement

Jamaat-e-Islami-led opposition alliance has rejected a special parliamentary committee formed to amend the Constitution, insisting that the referendum verdict be implemented through a Constitutional Reform Council instead. The alliance said it would not join the committee and warned that its movement would be expanded if its demands were ignored in parliament.

Hamidur Rahman Azad, assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, told Ajker Patrika on Tuesday that the opposition would have joined a Constitutional Reform Council, but not an amendment committee. “There is no question of giving names for the amendment committee. Our movement demanding reform is ongoing. A few rallies from our announced programme are still left. After that, we will move towards a broader movement,” he said.

The government side, through Chief Whip Nurul Islam, proposed the formation of the special committee in the Jatiya Sangsad on Monday with the aim of amending the Constitution. After staging a walkout in protest, Opposition Leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqul Rahman said outside parliament that the proposal had been raised in the very first session and that the opposition had made its position clear that day.

Following the opposition walkout, parliament passed by voice vote the proposal to form the committee on constitutional amendment. The committee was supposed to have 17 members. The government had invited the opposition to provide five names, but after that was rejected, a 12-member special committee was formed with Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed as chairman.

Leaders of the National Citizens Party, or NCP, a key ally in the opposition coalition, said they wanted constitutional reform, not amendment, and would remain firm on that demand.

Dr Atikur Rahman Mojahid, joint convener of the NCP and MP for Kurigram-2, told Ajker Patrika that the party would not join the constitutional amendment committee. He said the party would remain committed to the public mandate in favour of reform. “If the government takes any decision using its two-thirds majority, that is the government’s matter. But NCP respects the people’s verdict and will stand by that verdict,” he said.

Atikur Rahman Mojahid said the movement would be intensified outside parliament if the opposition was not given adequate space inside the House. “We will certainly remain in field-level movements to secure the people’s rights,” he said.

NCP leaders said the party was currently holding marches across the country to mark the anniversary of the July uprising. They said they would later consult alliance partners and move in phases towards a broader movement.

Sarwar Tushar, joint convener of the NCP and deputy chief of the Reform Implementation Committee, said the opposition would not join what he called a “mockery committee” that ignored the referendum verdict. “Using its two-thirds strength, the government is continuing to disregard the people’s verdict. However, in the long term, this is harming the government itself,” he said.

Sarwar Tushar said the opposition was still calling on the government to accept the referendum verdict and form a Constitutional Reform Council. “Otherwise, the opposition will realise its demands through movement. The pace of the movement will increase steadily,” he said.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, however, told parliament on Tuesday that the government was committed to constitutional reform to establish a democratic state system, ensure judicial independence and media freedom, and prevent fascism in the future. He said five seats were still being kept vacant on the committee for the opposition and urged it to return to talks.

The first proposal to form a special committee on constitutional amendment was raised in parliament on 29 April. At that time, the government said a special committee would be formed to amend the Constitution in line with the July Charter, including members from the opposition. The opposition, however, has from the outset argued that a Constitutional Reform Council must be formed on the basis of the referendum result and that no separate special committee is necessary.

The July Charter was drafted during the previous interim government on the basis of dialogue between political parties and the National Consensus Commission. On 17 October 2025, 25 political parties, including BNP and Jamaat, signed the charter. After the 12 February election, the NCP also signed it.

Of the 84 clauses in the July Charter, 48 relate to the Constitution. To implement them, the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Ordinance was later issued. Under that ordinance, a referendum was held on the day of the national election, and the “Yes” vote won.

The ordinance said that if “Yes” won in the referendum, the 13th Jatiya Sangsad would simultaneously perform the duties of the Constitutional Reform Council and incorporate the charter provisions into the Constitution.

Opposition parties allege that, in line with the referendum verdict, they took oath both as members of parliament and as members of the Constitutional Reform Council, but MPs from the ruling party did not take the second oath. They say that instead of implementing the referendum verdict, the government is now pursuing a different course by forming a separate special committee for constitutional amendment.

For that reason, the opposition alliance has decided not to join the special committee and to continue its movement both in parliament and on the streets to demand implementation of the referendum verdict.

Hamidur Rahman Azad said the government’s move had given the opposition a fresh issue for agitation. “If the government gives us an issue for movement, then the ingredients for strengthening our movement have increased further. Our movement might have intensified a little later, but on this issue it will intensify sooner. There is no compromise here,” he said.

Even so, leaders of the opposition alliance said that while the movement was continuing, they were for now taking a somewhat flexible position. They said they wanted to give the government some time before launching a final movement. A Jamaat-e-Islami leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the final shape of the movement over constitutional reform might emerge around the issue of forming a caretaker government.

NCP leaders, however, said Jamaat had historically been soft towards the government, while NCP had been vocal on constitutional reform from the beginning. They said they believed Jamaat would also abandon that flexibility and build a tougher movement when the issue of forming a caretaker government came to the fore.

An NCP joint convener, speaking anonymously, said BNP would seek to form a caretaker government according to its own preference, as in the past. He said the President would appoint the Chief Justice on the government’s advice, and that person would then head the caretaker government. “This process will not be accepted this time. The final movement for reform will then be seen on the streets,” he said.