Opposition leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman has warned of launching street protests, accusing the government of “disrespecting” the public mandate on constitutional reform.
He made the remarks at a press conference held at the media centre of the National Parliament on Wednesday.
Alleging that the government had ignored the outcome of a referendum in favour of constitutional reform and instead proposed amendments, the opposition staged a walkout from Parliament and threatened to return to street movement.
Speaking at the briefing, Dr Shafiqur Rahman said: “The people gave their verdict in favour of constitutional reform, not amendment. But the government has completely ignored and disrespected that mandate. That is why we walked out of Parliament.”
He said the referendum had been held based on a consensus among political parties ahead of the election. According to the verdict, elected MPs were supposed to serve both as members of Parliament and as members of a ‘Constitution Reform Council’, requiring them to take two separate oaths. However, he alleged that ruling party MPs took oath only as parliamentarians, not as members of the reform council.
Highlighting the opposition’s position in Parliament, he said that under the rules, a meeting of the reform council should have been convened within 30 days of the gazette notification, but the government failed to do so. As a result, the opposition submitted a notice to the Speaker.
He added that when an opportunity for discussion was finally given on Tuesday, the Law Minister proposed forming a parliamentary special committee for constitutional amendments, bypassing the demand for reform.
“We have made it clear that reform and amendment are not the same. The government is deceiving the people,” he said.
Dr Rahman also alleged that over the past 15 and a half years, 2,663 people had been killed without trial, more than 250 had been forcibly disappeared, and secret detention centres had been used to hold individuals for years. He said the July–August uprising and the push for constitutional reform were aimed at ending such practices.
On future programmes, he said the opposition had walked out in respect of the people’s mandate but had not abandoned Parliament. “We will now return to the people. Our 11-party alliance will soon decide the next course of action. There is no alternative but to build a street movement to realize the people’s demands,” he added.
Leaders of the opposition alliance were also present at the press conference.