Constitutional amendment to go ahead: Home Minister

The process of amending the Constitution will move forward to fulfil national expectations even if the opposition does not participate, Home Minister and Chairman of the Constitution Amendment Committee Salahuddin Ahmed has said. He said the provisions of the “July National Charter” would be incorporated into the Constitution. Although the opposition has been invited repeatedly to participate in the process, it has not responded. He added that the government would wait for the opposition, but the constitutional amendment process would not be halted.

He made these remarks while briefing journalists after a meeting of the Constitution Amendment Committee on Tuesday. Prominent academics, intellectuals and representatives of various universities took part in the meeting and expressed their views on various issues related to constitutional amendments, including the caretaker government system, the formation of an upper house of parliament, and judicial independence and reform.

Salahuddin Ahmed said the discussion with representatives of the academic community had been highly productive and important. They shared their views on how the provisions of the “July National Charter” could be reflected in the Constitution and how to ensure that the process of constitutional amendment in the future would be neither excessively difficult nor overly flexible. The academics will also submit their opinions in writing.

Regarding discussions on the caretaker government system, he said the participants had expressed support for abolishing the provision under which the President assumes responsibility as the head of the caretaker government as the last resort. They also discussed whether a member of the judiciary could be assigned the responsibility if none of the previous alternatives proved effective.

On the formation of an upper house of parliament, the Home Minister said detailed discussions had taken place on the necessity of a bicameral parliament, who would be represented in the upper house, and how the election process would work. The proposals raised during the discussions would be examined and incorporated into the committee’s recommendations.