The National Citizen Party (NCP) has partially announced its draft constitution three months after its formation, detailing its leadership structure, term limits, and procedures for forming its Political and National Councils.
On the day of its debut, the party issued a declaration outlining the kind of political organization it aspires to be and the ideologies it intends to follow.
Now, following a general meeting on Friday, the draft constitution has been approved and was formally introduced at a press conference held at the party’s temporary office around 7:30pm.
NCP’s Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain presented the draft constitution to the press.
The party also strongly condemned the vulgar comments, abusive language, obscenity, and misinformation targeted at its female members on various media outlets and social media platforms, including Facebook.
In addition, NCP announced plans to organize various programs inspired by the spirit of the July uprising.
Detailed schedules, including dates and times, will be announced soon by the party’s program planning and implementation cell, cultural cell, and human rights cell.
Governance framework
According to the draft constitution, the NCP’s president and general secretary will be elected separately through direct votes cast by members of the National Council across the country.
No individual may serve more than two terms in either position over their lifetime.
The central committee will serve a three-year term, with elections for the next council scheduled within the final 90 days of the term to ensure continuity and democratic transition.
A Political Council comprising 11 to 15 members will be formed through National Council elections. It will act as the highest policy-making body of the party.
To ensure gender representation, if the council consists of 11 members, at least three must be women.
All Political Council members will be directly elected by the National Council.
The National Council itself will consist of 2,000 to 2,500 members drawn from various organizational levels—five from each district committee, two from each sub-district and thana committee, as well as members of the central and executive committees.
This council will elect the president, general secretary, and Political Council members.
Elected presidents and general secretaries may be removed from office if they act against the party or if a vote of no confidence is passed against them, as per constitutional provisions.
The Central Committee will include the president, vice presidents, general secretary, joint general secretaries, other secretaries, general members, and district or divisional committee presidents, where applicable.
Like other party bodies, the committee will serve a three-year term and is responsible for organizing the next election within the final 90 days of its tenure.
The founding convening committee retains the authority to make necessary amendments to the draft constitution before the next council, should circumstances require it.
The full draft constitution will be made public upon submission of the party’s application to the Election Commission, ensuring transparency.
Stand against harassment of women
NCP has taken a strong stand against the harassment of women, stating that Bangladesh can never be secure without protecting the historic role and active participation of women in politics and society.
The party pledged to take action at multiple levels against those spreading false information and creating fake photo cards targeting women involved in politics. This includes:
- Filing complaints with the Press Council against media outlets that publish vulgar and irresponsible reports about female leaders.
- Collaborating with diaspora supporters to submit complaints to relevant embassies and authorities abroad against individuals making derogatory remarks from foreign countries.
- Filing formal complaints with state authorities against individuals who make obscene, vulgar, or false comments on social media platforms.
The NCP also called upon all anti-fascist political parties and social institutions in Bangladesh to unite in taking social, political, and legal action against those involved in character assassination, obscenity, and attacks on women.
