In Bangladesh, Political tensions rose yesterday when newly elected members of the 13th Parliament disagreed over taking an additional oath as members of the proposed Constitutional Reform Council. Members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, BNP took oath only as Members of Parliament at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, declining to recite the second pledge.

 

Party leaders said they are elected as MPs,  not as council members and argued the council must first be incorporated into the Constitution through parliamentary procedures. Several independents and small party figures, including Nurul Haque Nur and Zonayed Saki, also refrained from taking the Reform Council oath. In contrast, lawmakers from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party took both the parliamentary oath and the Reform Council oath administered by the state’s Chief Election Commissioner. 

 

The disagreement follows a recent referendum endorsing constitutional reform and the July National Charter, which proposes the formation of a Constitutional Reform Council. The BNP said it remains committed to reform but insists changes must first be legally adopted in parliament. Legal experts also questioned the constitutional validity of administering a separate oath for a council not yet formally recognised in the Constitution, raising the possibility of future court challenges.