Bangladesh’s reform plan is trapped in a legal design of its own making
· Scroll
Bangladesh’s current reform deadlock is rooted in how a set of legal instruments including the July Charter, the referendum ordinance and related constitutional mechanisms were constructed by the country’s erstwhile interim administration to depend on one another.
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The July Charter was drafted by a Consensus Commission established in the aftermath of political unrest and mass mobilisation, when the interim government led by Mohammed Yunus attempted to convert demands for institutional reform into a binding framework following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year autocratic rule in August 2024.
After more than ten months of negotiations involving political parties, civil society, and legal experts, the Charter was finalised, signed, and published. It was officially unveiled in Dhaka in mid-October.
The document proposed several major reforms, including limiting any prime minister to two terms, converting Bangladesh’s unicameral legislature into a bicameral one, and strengthening judicial independence through the creation of a separate secretariat, among other changes.
Instead of proceeding directly through constitutional amendments, as there was no active parliament during the interim period, the process relied heavily on executive ordinance issued by the president of Bangladesh and a referendum mechanism to generate legitimacy. That design choice now defines the crisis.
The July Charter is not a standalone declaration. Its implementation order requires...