Oath for constitution reform council must follow due process: Home minister

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed today said the government would implement the July National Charter as well as pledges made in its election manifesto.

“Not only the July National Charter, we are committed to implementing all the issues on which we received the people’s mandate through our election manifesto,” he said while speaking at an iftar programme organised by the Bangladesh Nationalist Lawyers’ Forum at the Supreme Court Bar Association auditorium in Dhaka.

“Four political parties could not sign the July charter for various reasons, while some later signed it. But those who criticised most did not sign it at first and signed it only after the election,” he said.

“One has to either sign it as it is, or state clearly why it cannot be signed,” he said.

On constitutional matters, Salahuddin said the government had so far proceeded in line with the constitution and would continue to do so.

“If the verdict of a referendum is to be honoured, parliament must first take up the matter, hold discussions, enact the law and incorporate it into the constitution,” he said.He said if members of a constitution reform council are to take oath, that would have to be decided through due process. The matter would have to be determined, incorporated into the Third Schedule, and the authority to administer the oath would also have to be specified, he said.

Referring to what he described as a "forced oath" administered to some people, the minister said it was for the Supreme Court to see whether the constitution had been upheld, as judges had taken oath to protect it.

Salahuddin also said 133 ordinances were issued during the interim government’s tenure.

Under the constitution, those ordinances must be placed before parliament in its first session. Parliament will decide which ones will be passed, amended, allowed to lapse, or approved as they are.