Bangladesh is witnessing fresh confrontation even as a government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was set to take charge on Tuesday. The Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizens Party (NCP) have warned of protests if the BNP didn’t take the oath linked to the July Charter. Jamaat and the NCP, the coalition partners, took the oath of office after threatening to boycott the swearing-in ceremony.
The crisis stems from two oaths that all elected MPs were supposed to take. Why two oaths? Remember that people in Bangladesh voted on February 12 to elect their MPs and also in a referendum on the July Charter?
While the BNP swept the national election, securing a two-thirds majority amid allegations of rigging, the July Charter referendum received 62% of ‘Yes’ votes.
The July Charter seeks to turn the Parliament into a Constituent Assembly for 180 days, giving the incoming House the mandate to make changes to Bangladesh’s Constitution and democratic institutions and processes.
The BNP had grudgingly signed the July Charter, but its leaders have been saying that the party has issues with several provisions. The BNP has also said that it wasn’t consulted when the July Charter was drafted.
The Jamaat and the NCP have been calling for reforms before elections were held. The BNP had been seeking polls first. Yunus ended up holding the election and the referendum on the same day, February 12.
The BNP on Tuesday declared that its MPs won’t be taking the oath as members of the Constitution Reform Council, which aims to change the Bangladesh Constitution by incorporating changes from the July Charter referundam. Veteran BNP leader Salauddin Ahmed announced the party’s decision in the presence of Tarique Rahman.
The Jamaat and the NCP are up in arms as BNP candidates have been sworn in as MPs but refused to take oath as members of the Constituent Assembly.
If the BNP MPs do not take the oath as members of the Constitutional Reform Council, then Jamaat-e-Islami candidates won’t take any oath at all, the party’s Naib-e-Ameer or deputy chief, Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, told Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo on Tuesday morning.
Taher said Jamaat members were supposed to take oath at noon, and they would be reaching the National Parliament building. However, they will abstain from taking any oath if they see BNP MPs not taking the oath as members of the Constitutional Reform Council.
The Jamaat, say its leaders, believes that a “Parliament without reforms is meaningless.”
That’s also the stance of the Jamaat’s alliance partner NCP, the party formed by youths who toppled the Sheikh Hasina government.
NCP joint convener Monira Sharmin said that six of the party’s MPs had left for the National Parliament building to attend the oath-taking event. She also said that since BNP MPs did not take the oath as members of the Constitution Reform Council, the six NCP MPs might not take an oath at all.
“We are considering not taking the oath as BNP MPs have not taken the oath as members of the Constitutional Reform Council. However, we do not want to say anything final about this right now,” Abdullah Al Amin, an NCP MP-elect from Narayanganj-4 constituency, told Prothom Alo.
However, following deliberations between the 11 parties within the Jamaat alliance, a decision was reached to take the oaths irrespective of the BNP’s actions. Prothom Alo reported that all Jamaat MPs had took the oath as members of parliament at 12:23 pm (BDT) and as members of the Constituent Assembly at 12:27 pm (BDT). The six MPs of the NCP, meanwhile, were reported by Prothom Alo as having taken their oaths as both members of the parliament and the Constituent Assembly at 1:30pm (BDT). No single BNP MP, meanwhile, has yet to be sworn in as a member of the Assembly.
The Jamaat-e-Islami bloc on Tuesday warned of fresh street protests over election manipulation and the gang-rape of a woman in Noakhali who reportedly voted for the NCP.
“The dreams people had for Bangladesh have been shattered by election manipulation, irregularities and post-poll violence,” said Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar, according to the Bangladesh’s Business Standard.
“Winning through a flawed election and then unleashing attacks and rape reminds us again of fascism,” he said.
The reference to fascism alludes to the claims and protests against the previous Sheikh Hasina regime. “Fascist” and “fascism” were words used to target Hasina and the Awami League by the July-August 2024 protesters. The same term is being used for the Tarique Rahman-led BNP now.
“The street movement must continue against the repression of women. The alliance will hold ‘engineer’ Tarique Rahman accountable. We feared none but Allah. We urge people not to lose hope,” said NCP Chief Organiser Nasiruddin Patwary, accordint to the report in the Bangladeshi media outlet.
