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Following the minister’s proposal, Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal addressed the opposition leader, “The government side has prepared a list of 12 members. From your opposition side, five names are requested. Thus, the special committee will have 17 members. Kindly provide your five names so the formation process can proceed.”

Opposition Leader and Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman responded that the chief whip spoke to him, conveying greetings from Leader of the House and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.

“I told him we have matters to discuss among ourselves. There are conceptual differences. We cannot give an opinion right now. We will inform later. It may not be possible today [Wednesday].

“We want reform [of the constitution], but here it is amendment. We had differences before, and that remain. We have received and listened to the proposal, but we will respond later. At this moment, we are not making any statement.”

Thanking the opposition leader, the law minister said, “We have no objection. We will wait. We will move forward with constitutional amendments in light of the July charter. Waiting until the next session is not a problem.”

Constitutional reforms or amendments remain a flashpoint between the opposition and the ruling party.

Calling the July Charter Implementation Order “a document of endless deceit and national betrayal”, the treasury bench on March 31 recommended forming an all-party special parliamentary body to amend the constitution.

In response, Opposition Leader Shafiqur proposed a separate special parliamentary committee to convene the Constitution Reform Council. “But our appeal is that the committee should have an equal number of members from both sides, so that we can present our views properly.”

The lawmakers were participating in a discussion on an adjournment motion brought by the opposition leader, calling for convening the Constitution Reform Council in accordance with the July Charter Implementation Order.

Under the order, members of the 13th Parliament were expected to perform a dual role -- serving as lawmakers and as members of a Constitution Reform Council -- to deal with 48 constitutional provisions outlined in the July charter within 180 working days.

For this purpose, MPs were required to take two separate oaths: one as members of parliament and another as members of the council.

However, the council was not convened.

According to the order, the first session of the council should be convened in the same manner as the first session of parliament -- within 30 calendar days of the election results being declared.

However, this has not yet been done.

MPs from the BNP-led alliance refused to take oath as members of the Constitution Reform Council. Meanwhile, 77 MPs from the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance took both oaths.

The July National Charter was drafted by the National Consensus Commission through discussions with political parties. Of its proposals, 48 relate to the constitution. On several of the fundamental reform proposals, BNP holds differing views and issued notes of dissent. The party supports constitutional amendment according to its own position.

On the other hand, Jamaat, NCP, and other opposition parties favour implementing all the proposals of the July charter through a Constitutional Reform Council.

A referendum was held to implement the 48 constitution-related proposals and “yes” won.