Dhaka, July 21 (IANS) Bangladesh’s parliament Wednesday formed a 15-member parliamentary committee to begin a review of the country’s 1972 constitution. The opposition parties opposed the move by keeping out.
The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who recommended the committee to the House, hopes to amend the constitution and debate its basic tenets socialism and secularism that were altered by past military-led governments.
Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury has been made the chairperson of the committee while Awami League lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta is the co-chairperson.
Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain termed the formation of the All Party Parliamentary Committee (APPC) to decide on restoring of the 1972 Constitution ‘anti-constitutional and against the parliamentary rules of procedure’.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, the leader of the opposition in parliament, consulted legal and constitutional experts before taking the decision.
Bangladesh enacted its statute in 1972. Nationalism, democracy, secularism and socialism were enshrined as the basic tenets.
After the assassination of country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and during the 1975-90 military-led phase of governance, socialism was dropped and secularism was replaced by a declaring country as an Islamic republic.
Other members to be included are Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and those who fought in the 1971 freedom movement including Abdur Razzak and Tofael Ahmed.
Representatives from other parties include Jatiya Party lawmaker Anisul Islam Mahmud, Workers Party’s Rashed Khan Menon, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s Hasanul Haq Inu and National Awami Party’s Amina Ahmed.
