Staff Reporter:
Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus will soon make a decision regarding the date of the referendum, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said on Thursday.
He made the remark amid the opposing stances of the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami on the referendum issue.
The adviser was addressing a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka following a meeting of the Advisory Council.
Mentioning that political parties are at loggerheads over the timing of the referendum, Asif Nazrul said, “The chief adviser will make the decision. We will work under his leadership and provide our full support. Rest assured, the decision will not be made by any particular individual. The chief adviser will decide on it, which will be made very soon.”
On Tuesday, the National Consensus Commission submitted its recommendations on the implementation of the July National Charter to the chief adviser. The recommendations included holding a referendum, either before the parliamentary election or on the election day, to implement the July Charter.
However, the Jamaat-e-Islami demanded that the referendum be held before the national polls to give the July Charter legal validity, and that the parliamentary election be conducted based on it. In contrast, the BNP insisted that the referendum must be held on the election day, and there is no scope for further discussion.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the recommendations for implementing the July Charter, the BNP said many issues beyond those agreed upon by political parties in the Charter have been included.
At the press conference, Asif Nazrul said, “After 270 days of discussions, the discord among political parties is disappointing. This intense conflict has posed a challenge for the government in passing the consensus document.”
When asked whether the disagreements over the July Charter would affect the national polls or not, the adviser said, “We are committed to holding the election in the first week of February.”
