The July National Charter-2025 will be formally signed on Friday at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, with the ceremony scheduled to begin at 4pm.
Chief adviser and chairman of the seven-member National Consensus Commission, Professor Muhammad Yunus, will attend the signing as the chief guest.
Leaders from a broad spectrum of political parties — including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Ganosamhati Andolan, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, JSD (Rab), and Biplobi Workers Party — are expected to participate. The charter has already been circulated among political parties nationwide.
Calling on the media to broadcast the event live, Professor Yunus urged citizens to witness what he described as a historic moment.
“To every Bangladeshi — wherever you are, at home or on the move, in your shops, factories, fields, or playgrounds — tune in and be part of this historic moment,” he said in a message.
The 40-page charter outlines Bangladesh’s political trajectory, beginning with the colonial era and covering the Language Movement of 1952, the education and autonomy movements of the 1960s, the 1969 mass uprising, the 1970 general elections, and the 1971 Liberation War.
It also recalls the establishment of a one-party state in 1975, the brief return to democracy in 1979, and subsequent cycles of authoritarianism, particularly between 2009 and 2024.
The document criticizes the disputed elections of 2014, 2018, and 2024 for undermining democratic institutions, politicizing state organs, and fostering corruption.
At the same time, it highlights persistent democratic struggles, from the 2018 road safety and anti-quota movements to the student-led anti-discrimination protests, culminating in the July 2024 mass uprising against fascism.
The charter concludes with a seven-point commitment, calling on political parties to endorse it as a pledge to uphold the will of the people expressed in the July 2024 uprising, and to safeguard democratic principles through national consensus.
