Jamaat, NCP threaten oath boycott after BNP's reform council snub

Jamaat-e-Islami and its alliance partner the National Citizen Party (NCP) have threatened to boycott the swearing-in ceremony for lawmakers after the BNP declined to take oath as members of the Constitution Reform Council.

Although BNP lawmakers were sworn in as members of the 13th National Parliament, the party refused the separate oath tied to the July Charter reforms, triggering immediate friction within the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance.

In response, Jamaat leaders said they were reviewing their position, reports bdnews24.com.

“We will now decide whether we will take the oath at all,” Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said.

The party’s deputy chief Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said: “There are complications. You will know [our decision soon].”

Mohammad Nazibur Rahman, elected from Pabna-1, said Jamaat MPs were inside the parliament building but had yet to take a final decision.

“We are at parliament. No decision has been made yet regarding the oath. We are in a meeting,” he said.

Around 11:45am on Tuesday, NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain wrote in a Facebook post that the 11-party alliance would not take “any oath at all” if the BNP did not take the Constitution Reform Council oath.

“According to the law, since the BNP has not taken the oath for the Constitution Reform Council, the 11-party alliance will not take any oath,” he wrote.

Earlier, Taher told Bangla daily Prothom Alo that if BNP lawmakers did not take oath as members of the Constitution Reform Council, Jamaat MPs would “not take any oath at all”.

Although Jamaat lawmakers and their alliance partners were present at the parliament complex, their swearing-in had not begun as of 11:45am.

Earlier in the day, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed announced that BNP MPs would not take oath as members of the Constitution Reform Council, though they would be sworn in as members of parliament.

He argued that the proposed council has no explicit constitutional basis at present and that any such body would first need to be incorporated into the Constitution through formal amendment and parliamentary approval.

“As things stand, we have acted within the limits of the Constitution,” Salahuddin said, adding that the decision was taken on the instruction of party chief Tarique Rahman.

The Constitution Reform Council is intended to implement reform proposals under the July Charter, following the “Yes” vote in the referendum held alongside the general election.