Staff Reporter:
The Election Commission (EC) has announced that the 13th National Parliamentary election and a na-tional referendum will take place on the same day.
A notification issued by the EC Secretariat on Saturday, signed by Director (Public Relations) and In-formation Officer Md. Ruhul Amin Mallick, confirmed the decision and outlined the referendum ques-tion along with related reform proposals.
The referendum question reads: “Do you agree with the July National Charter (Constitutional Amend-ment) Order, 2025 and the proposals related to constitutional amendments recorded in the July National Charter? (Yes/No)”
According to the notification, the proposals cover several major areas. The caretaker government, the Election Commission and other constitutional institutions will be formed in line with the July Charter.
A bicameral parliament will be established, with an upper house of 100 members proportionally elected based on party votes, and constitutional amendments will require majority approval in the upper house.
The July Charter also makes mandatory the implementation of measures such as enhanced women’s rep-resentation in parliament, election of the deputy speaker and parliamentary committee chairs from oppo-sition parties, protection of fundamental rights, judicial independence, reforms in local government, ten-ure of the Prime Minister, powers of the President, and 30 other scheduled matters.
Other amendments mentioned in the Charter will be implemented by political parties according to their commitments.
