BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed on Wednesday described the ‘July National Charter 2025’ as a great binding social contract between the people and political parties, saying no party would dare to defy it as it has evolved through a transparent national dialogue and must be implemented by the next parliament.
“Would any political party dare to break this? Would any party take that risk? I don’t think there could be a bigger consensus, memorandum of understanding, or social contact or agreement than this. It is a contract between the nation, the people, the political parties, and all stakeholders. And I firmly believe the only place to implement this is the National Parliament,” Salahuddin told reporters during a tea break at the 22nd session of the second-round dialogues hosted by the National Consensus Commission (NCC) at the Foreign Service Academy.
He made the remarks when asked about BNP’s position on the demand raised by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) for a legal framework to ensure immediate implementation of the charter.
“Some are saying this should be a legal document. But I would say this entire process — involving many political parties in long, transparent, live-broadcasted discussions — is like an open court trial. The nation has seen who said what. Now when a charter is prepared with signatures from the chief adviser, heads of reform commissions, members of the NCC, national leaders, and representatives of all parties — and it gets published online and in newspapers — can any party dare to break it? I don’t think so,” Salahuddin said.
He said the charter reflects the collective spirit of the nation following the July-August student uprising. “Can any political party ignore the nation’s aspirations and the commitments made by political leaders following the student-people mass uprising…. I don’t believe that is possible,” he added.
Salahuddin asserted that BNP has made its position clear and fully agrees with the NCC’s proposals on how the charter should be implemented. “We believe the National Parliament is the only place to implement this charter,” he said.
Noting that one secrion in the charter clearly says that the agreed commitments must be implemented within two years of the formation of parliament. “We are 100% in agreement with that sentiment and proposal,” he added.
Salahuddin also said many reforms have already begun to be implemented through ordinances and ministerial actions even before the charter is signed.
On allegations that BNP does not accept reforms, Salahuddin said: “Out of 826 total proposals from the six key reform commissions, we disagreed with only 51. After such a massive process of consensus-building, how can anyone say BNP is not committed to reforms?”