BNP, Jamaat in loggerheads over oath-taking on ‘referendum’ in Bangladesh

Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh’s right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami's newly elected Members of Parliament on Tuesday refused to take the oath of office after the victorious BNP's denial to take the pledge as members of the “Constitution Reform Council”.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasirudin administered the oath of office to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) MPs inside the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in the first phase, and Jamaat MPs were next in line to take the oath.

The situation got complicated after BNP declined to take the second oath as members of the “Constitution Reform Council” to endorse the referendum.

“We will take no oath unless BNP MPs take oath as members of 'Constitution Reform Council' alongside regular parliament members,” Jamaat’s deputy chief Abdullah Mohammad Taher said.

He said their party believed “parliament without the constitutional reform is meaningless”.

The second oath is aimed at obligating MPs to implement the much drummed up “July Charter” demanding the Constitution to be massively rewritten, while the 84-point complex proposal was laid out in the referendum in a cognised but nearly esoteric form for voting.

  The election commission reported that over 60 per cent of voters cast a “yes” vote in the referendum.

“We have not been elected as members of the Constitution Reform Council; no provision of the council is yet to be incorporated in the Constitution,” BNP’s policy-making standing committee member and newly elected member Salahuddin Ahmed said.

He conveyed the decision to party MPs as directed by BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman as they gathered in the Parliament hall to take the oath.

“None of us (BNP members) will take the second oath,” Ahmed said.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has bagged 209 out of 297 seats, while right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami secured 68 seats in the 13th Parliamentary elections. Deposed premier Sheikh Hasina's Awami League was barred from contesting polls.

Awami League was disqualified for the February 12 polls, after which BNP’s once-longtime ally and now hardened rival, Jamaat-e-Islami, emerged as the main opposition.

According to the official schedule, President Mohammad Shahabuddin would administer the oath of office of the cabinet, installing the BNP in power in the afternoon, after the majority party members are set to elect their leader.

Bangladesh Constitution dictates that the President invite the majority party leader to form the government and administer the cabinet’s oath, while BNP said the cabinet would be led by party Chairman Tarique Rahman as the next Bangladesh Prime Minister.

BNP earlier said the party chairman would be the new prime minister of the country.

The BNP has invited about 1,200 domestic and foreign guests to the event.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will represent India at the swearing-in ceremony of Rahman. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Secretary-General of Lok Sabha Utpal Kumar Singh are also likely to accompany Birla.

Maldives President Mohammed Muizzoo, Turkish Undersecretary Beris Ekinci and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr Nalinda Jayatissa would be among those attending Rahman's oath ceremony.