A special committee for amending the constitution was formed in Parliament on Monday night amid strong protest from the opposition.
Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni placed the proposal for formation of the Constitutional Amendment-related Special Committee in the House, which was passed by a voice vote, leading to a walkout by opposition lawmakers.
The 12-member special committee, headed by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, was formed, keeping the provision for making it a 17-member one incorporating members from the opposition.
Parliament constitutes six standing committees
The committee members include eight MPs from ruling BNP, and one each from Bangladesh Jatiya Party, led by Andaleeve Rahman, Ganosamhati Andolon, Gono Odhikar Parishad (GOP) and Islami Andolan Bangladesh.
The eight BNP MPs are Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed (Cox’s Bazar-1), Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni (Barguna-2), Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman (Jhenaidah-1), Zainul Abedin (Barishal-3), Stare Minister Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin (Chattogram-5), State Minister Farzana Sharmin (Natore-1), Mahmudul Hoque Rubel (Sherpur-3) and Shakila Farzana (Women Seat-8).
Other members include State Minister Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki (Brahmanbaria-6) from Ganosamhati Andolon, Andaleeve Rahman (Bhola-1) from BJP, State Minister Nurul Haque (Patuakhali-3) from GOP and Oli Ullah (Barguna-1) from Islami Andolan Bangladesh.
Before the walkout from the House, Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman opposed the proposal for the formation of the special committee, claiming that the public verdict given through the February-12 referendum for the constitutional reform was undermined.
He said they never said they would give names to represent the opposition in this committee as they did not accept it conceptually.
Shafiqur Rahman said their MPs took two oaths – one as MPs and another as member of the Constitution Reform Council. “We think both oaths still remain valid,” he said.
“If this committee is formed to bypass the implementation of referendum verdict (given through the referendum), we are rejecting this proposal,” he said.
The opposition leader said they were staging walkout as the will of the people expressed through the referendum and the public verdict was not being honoured.
Responding to the opposition leader, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the government is committed to fulfilling the aspirations of the people following the July mass uprising by repealing the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.
Rejecting the opposition's argument regarding two oaths, he said Parliament was elected under the existing Constitution and the current parliamentary session has also been convened in accordance with it.
"If they say they have taken two oaths, we have not taken any such second oath," Salahuddin said, adding that taking an oath as members of the Constitution Reform Council has no constitutional or legal basis.
He said the government will want to respect the public verdict delivered through the referendum, but the constitution must be amended first to honour the public verdict given through the referendum.
If any provisions relating to the Constitution Reform Council need to be incorporated into the Constitution through consensus, those issues could be discussed within the constitutional amendment committee, the minister said.