Gano Forum president Dr Kamal Hossain on Thursday said Awami League did not have the people’s mandate for the 15th amendment to the constitution and it will not be able to legitimise a national election based on it.
Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent remark that her government will not budge an inch from constitutional provisions to hold the next national election, he questioned, “Which constitution… the amendment (15th) was made in a rush for their (AL) own interest. It can’t be accepted.”
Dr Kamal Hossain, one of the framers of the country’s first constitution, made the remarks at a roundtable organised by Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujon) at the Jatiya Press Club to press home its proposals for reforming the political and electoral system of the country.
“Did the country’s 15 corere people vote knowing about the amendment?” Dr Kamal questioned.
The 15th amendment was not mentioned in the election manifesto of Awami League and it also contradicts the spirit of the constitution, he observed.
Kamal noted that amendments made without people’s mandate in the constitution in the past also failed to legalise unaccepted elections in the past to support the regimes, both elected and unelected ones, in their attempts to cling to power.
In 2007, the then Prime Minister, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, had also showed the excuse of keeping up with the constitution and declined to reach any compromise to resolve the political crisis at that time, but failed, the eminent jurist recalled.
Many military regimes had tried to stay in power by amending the constitution, but failed, he pointed out.
Comparing the electoral race between the political parties with the race over the championship of a cricket tournament after every five years, Kamal said if a team won the championship five years back playing matches under a neutral umpire, it cannot demand to play under a partisan umpire to defend the championship now.
It is the people who are the source of power and it is the people who will keep up with the spirit of the constitution, he said.
Kamal observed that nothing but a mass movement of people can resolve the crisis over the next national election.
In his keynote presentation at the roundtable, Sujon general secretary Badiul Alam Majumder proposed a national dialogue involving representatives from political parties, businesspeople and professionals to break the standoff over the next polls.
Moderated by former caretaker government adviser M Hafizuddin Khan, the roundtable was addressed, among others, by political scientist Prof Dilara Chowdhury, noted columnist and citizen rights activist Abul Moksud, former Election Commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain and Nagorik Oikya convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna.
Source: UNB Connect