NCP to Sign July National Charter Today

The National Citizen Party (NCP) is set to sign the July National Charter today. A six-member delegation led by Convener Nahid Islam and Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain will visit the residence of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, Jamuna, at 6:00 pm Bangladesh time on Monday to formally sign the charter.

The information was shared with the media in a statement issued by the NCP earlier on Monday.

Last Thursday, alongside the 13th National Parliamentary Election, a referendum was held to implement the constitutional reform proposals included in the July National Charter. The “Yes” vote secured more than double the votes of the “No” camp. With the victory of the “Yes” vote, the path has opened for implementing proposals for fundamental state reforms.

Following the referendum result, the NCP—formed by youth leaders of the July mass uprising—is now proceeding to sign the charter. The party actively campaigned in favor of the “Yes” vote.

According to the party statement, the delegation signing the charter will include central leaders Sarwar Tushar, Monira Sharmin, Javed Rasin, and Zahirul Islam Musa, alongside Nahid Islam and Akhtar Hossain.

After the fall of the Awami League government during the July mass uprising, an interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus took office on August 8, 2024. The government pledged reforms in various sectors of the state. In the first week of October 2024, it formed reform commissions on the Constitution, electoral system, judiciary, Anti-Corruption Commission, police, and public administration. Additional commissions were later formed to recommend reforms in other sectors.

Out of the recommendations made by the initial six reform commissions, 166 were identified as significant. To build political consensus on these proposals, the National Consensus Commission began its work on February 15 last year. After extensive discussions with 30 political parties, consensus and decisions were reached on 84 reform proposals, which were incorporated into the July National Charter.

Among the 84 agreed reform proposals, 48 relate to constitutional amendments. The remaining proposals can be implemented through government orders, ordinances, or legislation. Some recommendations from various reform commissions have already been implemented by the interim government.

However, the constitutional proposals cannot be implemented through ordinances or executive orders. Therefore, a referendum was held specifically on the 48 constitutional reform proposals included in the July National Charter. Of these, 19 were identified by the National Consensus Commission as fundamental reform proposals.

On October 17 last year, the “July National Charter 2025” was formally signed at an event held at the South Plaza of the National Parliament building. On that day, 24 political parties and alliances—including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami—signed the charter. Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus and members of the National Consensus Commission also signed. Another party signed later. However, the NCP did not attend the signing ceremony and had not signed the charter until now.

Prior to the signing ceremony, Professor Ali Riaz, Vice-Chair of the National Consensus Commission, stated at a press conference that political parties that did not sign the charter initially would have the opportunity to do so later.

At the time, the NCP had announced three conditions for not signing the charter. These included publishing the draft implementation order before the signing ceremony and requiring the Chief Adviser to issue the order. The party also stated that if the public approved the charter in a referendum, any note of dissent would lose its validity. According to the referendum outcome, the next elected parliament will use its constituent authority to amend the Constitution, and the revised Constitution will be titled “Constitution of Bangladesh, 2026.”

On November 13 last year, the President promulgated the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order, 2025. Under this order, the referendum was held on February 12.