Last Updated on October 29, 2025 9:44 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
BNP slams ‘deceptive’ reform plan, Jamaat pushes referendum
Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has warned that the country’s upcoming 13th parliamentary election will be “challenging,” as “many powerful forces from inside and outside the country will attempt to thwart it.”
“Sudden attacks may come. No matter how many obstacles appear, we must overcome them,” Yunus said at a high-level meeting on election preparations held at the State Guest House Jamuna on Tuesday, attended by Home Affairs Adviser Jahangir Alam and law enforcement officials, according to Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam.
The meeting discussed election-time postings, countering social media disinformation, training officials, and ensuring security. Yunus warned that AI-generated fake videos may flood social media ahead of the polls and urged rapid response. He also advised the Election Commission and Cultural Affairs Ministry to produce TVCs and short videos explaining voting procedures to build public awareness.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and allied parties launched a new phase of agitation with a five-point demand, including holding a referendum on the July National Charter within November. The coalition also called for proportional representation in both parliamentary chambers, justice for past political persecution, and a ban on activities of the Jatiya Party and the 14-Party Alliance.
“We do not consider it appropriate to merge the two— referendum and polls. Doing so could put the July Charter at risk of uncertainty,” said Jamaat’s joint chief Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, urging the government to announce the referendum date immediately.
At another event, BNP leaders strongly criticised the National Consensus Commission’s final recommendations, accusing it of sidelining political parties’ input. BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed said the Commission’s report “does not reflect the discussions held with political parties or the provisions of the July Charter signed on October 17.”
“The document includes only the Commission’s proposals. If this was their plan all along, what was the point of holding 11 months of discussions?” he asked. Salahuddin alleged that many issues now set for a referendum “were never discussed” at the Commission level.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir went further, accusing the Commission of “deceiving the people” by omitting dissenting notes from its final submission to the Chief Adviser. “This cannot be called a consensus. It is a deception. These issues must be corrected immediately,” Fakhrul said. He urged the interim government to ensure that reforms are implemented through an elected parliament, warning, “If you go beyond that, you will have to take full responsibility.”
The National Citizen Party (NCP), meanwhile, said it would sign the July Charter only after the Commission’s final recommendations— including those addressing the “note of dissent” and constitutional reforms— are formally incorporated.
“There will be no such thing as a ‘note of dissent’ in the July Charter Implementation Order. Whatever consensus is reached will go to a referendum,” said NCP Convener Nahid Islam in Rajshahi, adding that the referendum must be approved “based on the legitimacy of the July Uprising.”
Rejecting any alliance with “controversial or anti-reform” parties, Nahid said the next national election will be held “under Yunus’ leadership, not under any caretaker system,” and called the Election Commission’s refusal to allocate the NCP’s ‘Shapla’ symbol “arbitrary.”