- Bangladesh Interim Government approved July National Charter.
- The Charter seeks to reshape politics, constitution, institutions.
- Yunus says political parties will accept it in the interest of the nation.
Bangladesh will hold a national referendum on implementing its ‘July Charter’ for state reform drawn up after last year’s deadly student-led uprising, Muhammad Yunus, the head of the country’s interim government, said on Thursday.
He also reiterated that parliamentary elections would be held in the first half of February and that they would be free and fair.
The caretaker government approved the July National Charter (Constitution Reform) Implementation Order 2025 on Thursday, and it will be implemented depending on the outcome of the referendum.
“We have decided that the referendum will be held on the same day as the national parliamentary election – that is, in the first half of February,” Nobel laureate Yunus said in a televised address to the nation.
“This will not hinder the reform process. Rather, it will make the election more festive and cost-effective,” he said.
The July Charter seeks to reshape the country’s politics and institutions and give constitutional recognition to the 2024 uprising that forced Sheikh Hasina, a longtime prime minister, to flee to India.
It includes increasing the representation of women, limiting the term of the prime minister, strengthening the powers of the president, expanding fundamental rights and ensuring the independence of the judiciary.
A majority of political parties had signed the charter in October, but the National Citizens Party, formed by the leaders of last year’s movement and four left-wing parties, had boycotted it.
The NCP said it stayed away because of the lack of a legal framework or binding guarantee to implement the commitments made in the charter.
Supporters see the charter as a basis for institutional reform. Critics say its impact could be largely symbolic without a legal framework or parliamentary consensus.
“I hope political parties will accept our decision in the greater interest of the nation,” Yunus said.
“The country will move towards a festive national election and step into a ‘New Bangladesh’.”
