National Citizens Party Demands Constitutional Recognition and Implementation of July Declaration in New Constitution

The National Citizens Party (NCP) has called for the recognition and implementation of the July Declaration as a fundamental principle of state governance in the country’s constitution. Akhtar Hossain, the party’s Secretary-General, stated on Thursday that Bangladesh urgently needs a new constitution, which must include the July Declaration and ensure its constitutional recognition and effectiveness.

He made these remarks to reporters after the 11th day of the second phase of the dialogue with political parties organized by the National Consensus Commission at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

Akhtar Hossain also highlighted NCP’s proposal to amend the current constitutional provisions regarding the declaration of a state of emergency. He said that the state of emergency has been politically exploited in the past. Currently, the President can declare a state of emergency without the Prime Minister’s countersignature. The NCP proposes that the President should declare a state of emergency only with the approval of an all-party parliamentary committee or directly by the parliament.

He further noted that politically motivated declarations of emergency have often been used as a tool to suppress opposition parties in Bangladesh’s political arena. Therefore, provisions should be enacted so that the President can declare a state of emergency only in cases such as external aggression, wartime, pandemics, natural disasters, or threats to regional integrity. Moreover, while imposing emergency, protection of fundamental human rights must be ensured as much as possible.

Regarding the appointment of the Chief Justice, the NCP has demanded that the senior-most judge of the Appellate Division be appointed as the Chief Justice. Akhtar Hossain explained that there is currently no specific law or regulation governing the appointment of the Chief Justice, which has led to politically motivated appointments in the past. He said political parties have agreed on the need to establish a clear legal framework for appointing the Chief Justice.

He added that during the National Consensus Commission discussions, a proposal was made to appoint a senior judge as the Chief Justice, and the NCP supports appointing the senior-most judge. Since having multiple options could lead to partisan bias, the NCP recommends appointing the senior-most judge as Chief Justice through a well-defined legal process.