In order to make Bangladesh a viable democratic state after the coup, the Constitutional Reform Commission on Wednesday made several recommendations to the interim government, recommending changes in many important areas, including the country’s constitutional name and state principles.
The Commission has recommended that the words ‘Republic’ and ‘People’s Republic of Bangladesh’ in the current constitutional name of Bangladesh be replaced by the names ‘Nagarikatantra’ and ‘People’s Democratic Bangladesh’.
We have disagreed with the way Bangladesh is called the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, which actually means a republic. We have said that Bangladesh should be known as ‘People’s Democratic Bangladesh’,” commission chief Professor Ali Riaz told reporters on Wednesday.
It has been proposed to abolish the provision in the constitution which refers to the people of Bangladesh as Bengali as a nation, and to identify the citizens of the country as ‘Bangladeshi’. Along with this, it has been proposed to change the state policy.
The present constitution states as the basic principles of the state – nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism.
In their place, ‘equality, human dignity, social justice, pluralism and democracy’ are recommended as new principles.
“We recommend five principles of the state as a reflection of the great ideals of the 1971 war of independence and the public aspirations of the people’s revolution of 2024,” said Professor Riyaz.
A proposal has been made to make the present unicameral parliament bicameral. It has been asked to increase the number of seats in the parliament.
Besides, it has been recommended to reduce the term of government and national parliament by one year to four years.
The term of the President is said to be four years. The President is elected by the Electoral College or Electoral College. It has been recommended that the same person cannot hold the presidency more than twice.
It has been proposed not to serve more than two terms as prime minister, to make the minimum age of 21 years as a candidate for parliamentary elections and to make the deputy speaker of the parliament from the opposition party.
The commission has proposed that a member of parliament cannot remain as the party leader and leader of the parliament if he is the prime minister.
At the same time, the commission has recommended reinstating the referendum on constitutional amendments and changing the controversial Article 70 of the constitution.
It has been informed by the Commission that the opinion of nearly one lakh people has been taken while preparing the recommendations of the Constitution Reform Commission. Besides the members of the commission, 32 researchers worked on it.
‘Our aim was clear-cut democracy, guaranteeing basic human rights and establishing accountability. From that point of view, we have mentioned the sections of the constitution, the issues that need to be reformed,’ said Professor Riyaz to the journalists.
The head of the commission expressed hope that the political parties will agree on the implementation of the proposal.
‘Today we are putting these proposals and recommendations on behalf of the commission in the continuation of the dream that came through a mass uprising. We hope that the political parties of Bangladesh will be able to reach a kind of consensus, said Professor Riaz.
Balance of power provision
The commission recommended introduction of a constitutional body called ‘National Constitutional Council’ to balance the powers of the Prime Minister and the President of the country.
They feel that the current constitution has given the country’s prime minister ‘sole authority and power’, which has paved the way for ‘autocracy’.
Therefore, we recommend the introduction of a constitutional body called the National Constitutional Council as a matter of check and balance to establish a balance of power between the three arms of the state and the two posts of the executive, i.e. the Prime Minister and the President, so that the power of the State cannot be concentrated in any one person or institution. I did it,’ said Professor Riyaz to the reporters.
It is recommended to have one person representing the President, Chief Justice, Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition in Parliament and Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament as well as other parties in this Council.
On the other hand, the reform commission has also recommended that members of parliament can vote against their party so that they can express their opinions freely.
“We think that the Prime Minister needs to face a vote of no confidence in the National Parliament, it needs to be arranged. That is why we have proposed some reforms so that the Prime Minister is not only protected by Article 70,’ said the head of the Reforms Commission.
However, it is mentioned in the recommendation that parliamentarians cannot oppose the money bill.
Bicameral parliament, increasing seats
Proposals have been made to make the present unicameral parliament bicameral. It has been asked to increase the number of seats in the parliament.
In this regard, it is proposed to keep 400 seats in the lower house of Parliament, out of which 100 seats will be reserved for women. However, even if the seats are reserved, women representatives will come through direct voting.
On the other hand, there are 105 seats in the upper house of parliament. In this case, the members of the upper house will be determined on a proportional basis.
That is, according to the number of votes received by a political party in the general election, they will get seats in the upper house.
“In order for the two houses to have representation for all, I have recommended to create a lower house on the basis of majority, but an upper house on the basis of numerical representation,” said the head of the commission Professor Riyaz to the reporters.
It should be noted that after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the face of public agitation, the interim government formed 11 reform commissions in two phases of state reform.
They are – Constitution, Judiciary, Electoral System, Police, Anti-Corruption Commission, Public Administration, Local Government, Labour, Health, Media and Women Affairs Reform Commission.
Four commission reports were submitted on Wednesday. The report of the Department of Justice and Public Administration Reform Commission is scheduled to be submitted on January 31.
The government has informed that the other six commissions will submit their reports by next February.
(Dhaka Times/January 15/JB/AJ)
Source: www.dhakatimes24.com
