July Charter: 17 registered political parties signed, 35 did not

Staff Correspondent

There are 52 political parties registered with the Election Commission of Bangladesh. Of these, only 17 have signed the so-called July Charter. The remaining 35 parties have not signed it. The four leftist parties and the People’s Forum have decided not to sign the July Charter as it is controversial and disregards the constitution.

The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), BSD (Marxist) and Bangladesh JSD jointly stated that they did not sign the charter due to the non-submission of the revised draft and the non-inclusion of their Note of Dissent.

BAZLUR Rashid Firoz, general secretary of the Bangladesh Association of Democratic Socialists (BAS), said, “The history of the Liberation War and independence has not been presented correctly in the draft of the July Charter. The proposal to amend Article 150(2) of the Constitution and remove the Declaration of Independence is unacceptable to us.”

Left parties have complained that the charter does not properly reflect the four fundamental principles of the constitution—democracy, socialism, secularism, and nationalism.

On the other hand, General Secretary of Gono Forum Mizanur Rahman said, “We did not receive the final copy of the charter, only the signature page was given. This indicated the abolition of some fundamental articles of the constitution, so we did not sign.”

Gono Forum leader Subrata Chowdhury also said, “We have not seen the full copy of the charter. We have refrained from signing because the content is unclear.”

Signatory and non-signatory parties

Political analyst Sabbir Khan said that the parties that signed the charter include Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-RAB), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Khilafat Majlis, Khilafat Majlis, AB Party, Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM), Gono Forum (part), Nagorik Oikya, Gana Sanghati Andolan, Gana Adhikar Parishad (GOP), Biplobi Workers Party of Bangladesh, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Zaker Party and Gano Front.

On the other hand, 35 registered political parties did not sign the July Charter.

These include – Bangladesh Awami League, Jatiya Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (INU), Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Workers Party, Democratic Left Front, Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, Bangladesh NAP, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), Bangladesh Kalyan Party, Bangladesh Congress, Bangladesh Human Rights Party, Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF), Bangladesh Muslim League, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (Manju).

The Islamic parties that did not sign include the Bangladesh Islamic Front, Bangladesh Islamic Unity Alliance, Bangladesh Muslim Front, and a faction of the Bangladesh Islamic Movement.

The center and center-left parties include Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), Bangladesh National Democratic Party (NDP), Bangladesh Minority Party, Bangladesh People’s Party, Bangladesh Progressive Party, Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (JAGPA), Jatiya Ganofront, Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League, Bangladesh Labor Party.

Political analyst and senior journalist Sabbir Khan said that out of the 25 parties that signed the charter, 9 are unregistered. As registered parties, this is about 32 percent of the country’s political power. That is, 68 percent of registered political parties are outside the so-called July charter.

Sharing a joint photo of the leaders of the political parties that signed the July Charter on Facebook, writer and political analyst Hasan Morshed said, “This photo is a great metaphor historically. Almost all of them in the front row are important leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami. The beardless man in the same row wearing a Punjabi is Comrade Saiful Haque – General Secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh. Next to him, dressed in a sari, is Bhanishikha Jamali, a member of the political council of the same revolutionary party.”

“And the old man with a stick in his hand, seen between these two, if I’m not mistaken, is Comrade Tipu Biswas, one of the commanders of the class enemy extermination [aka throat-cutting] in the 1970s,” wrote the political analyst.