July Proclamation tomorrow, national charter delayed

The much-envisaged 'July Proclamation' documenting the student-mass uprising will be rolled out tomorrow at a mass gathering in Dhaka's Manik Mia Avenue amid a stalemate over the signing of the 'July Charter'.

Media reports say Chief Adviser of the post-uprising government Prof Muhammad Yunus would make the proclamation rollout in the afternoon.

The July declaration is a document of political consensus among the parties to officially recognise last year's uprising and fall of fascist Sheikh Hasina government.

"July 36th - Last year, on this day, the world witnessed an unprecedented mass uprising. As a consequence, the fascist fled Bangladesh. The entire Bangladesh was united through the blood of many martyrs and the sacrifices of warriors. There was a wave of jubilant people on the way. The streets of Bangladesh witnessed emotional people thanking God," the Chief Adviser's social-media-handling Facebook said in a post Sunday.

July 36th is back after a year. On this day (August 05), the nation's desired 'July Declaration' is going to be declared, it added, saying that on this occasion, there will be a daylong event across Manik Mia Avenue.

The progress of the July proclamation comes because of a political understanding. However, the much-talked-about July charter, a consensus for which the political parties spent about two months, was yet to see major breakthrough on reaching the signing and its method of implementation.

The National Consensus Commission (NCC) says it couldn't advance to sign the July Charter soon as some key political parties haven't responded to a draft to prepare a final one

Furthermore, the method of signing of the national charter is also not determined yet.

The commission has said it was unable to do their homework to prepare a final draft of the national charter due to slow progress in the process of collating observations from the stakeholder political parties on the preliminary draft copy it sent.

Among the major political parties, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) responded to the primary draft with its observations and reservations.

However, two other key stakeholders of the July uprising--Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizens Party (NCP)-held back from responding until Sunday or sent their observations on the draft copy, according to NCC sources.

"We had sent the primary draft of the July Charter to the political parties and asked them to respond with their observations on it and share if they suggest any revision by the end of July. However, some key political parties have not responded yet. If we do not receive them then, we couldn't move forward to prepare the second final draft," Prof Ali Riaz, vice-president of the NCC, told the FE Sunday.

The commission has already reviewed some issues in the draft preliminary charter in line with the recommendations of some parties during the series discussions held in July.

"If we don't get all the parties' observations, then how could we complete the process? However, this is also out of our authority (to forcibly take observation)," Prof Riaz added.

Meanwhile, the commission is going to sit with the political parties as it is having difficulties to determine the signing method of the July Charter. Some demand a legal frame for immediate implementation, some want to leave the implementation to the yet-to-be-born parliament through the transition from the post-uprising interregnum.

"The commission has decided to consult experts and sit with the political parties again to reach an understanding on the method of signing the charter," says Prof Riaz, suggesting that political parties hold dialogue among them (to find a solution and foster consensus on unresolved issues.

The commission members convened Sunday to fix the difficulties and analyse the feedbacks gleaned from discussions with the political parties.

In Sunday's meeting, the NCC decided that the Commission would talk to experts in phases and, in that vein, with political parties and alliances on the agreed proposals or recommendations.

Discussions will continue between the commission, and political parties and alliances and the government on the means to execute these proposals or recommendations.

It has been decided to urge those parties that have not yet responded to give their opinions quickly, according to a statement of the NCC.

The commission stays hopeful about signing it soon, without outlining any date. The commission fears any charter not to be signed before August 8 as there is no significant development in their hand.

"Some credibly feared that the NCC couldn't complete the discussion with political parties before July 31. However, we completed the discussion by the end of July and went home to sign the July Charter soon. However, it is certainly not before August 8 as time has already passed by," says Prof Riaz.

The NCC had gained consensus on 19 fundamental issues before it concluded on July 31 the two-month-long parleys on rules of restructuring and running the state henceforth.

However, political parties like BNP, Jamaat and NCP are now standing poles apart on the issue of implementing the charter and signing method.

Standing-committee member of the BNP Salahuddin Ahmed, after the wrapping-up discussions, told reporters that they would consider the July Charter a "historic and overriding social contract" between the people of the country and political parties--and a "contract that no political party will dare to break".

According to the draft, the charter must be implemented within two years of the formation of parliament, which BNP fully supports.

On the other hand, Jamaat demanded the need for a legal framework to ensure immediate implementation of the charter.

Opposing BNP's position on chatter, Jamaat leader Dr Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher told reporters they think that just making promises will not work. "If the charter does not have a legal basis, it will become worthless."

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