Dhaka – The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has constituted a special parliamentary committee for constitutional amendment, sparking a walkout by opposition lawmakers led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
Chief Whip Md Nurul Islam on Monday proposed the formation of the committee, and it was passed by voice vote in the House. Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal was presiding over the parliamentary sitting at the time.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed was made the head of the 12-member special committee, with a provision for its reconstitution to make it a 17-member body to incorporate opposition lawmakers.
The committee members include lawmakers from the BNP, one each from the Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) led by Andaleev Rahman, Ganashanghati Andolon, Gano Odhikar Parishad (GOP), Islami Andolan Bangladesh, and one independent lawmaker.
The BNP members are Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed (Cox’s Bazar-1), Chief Whip Nurul Islam (Barguna-2), Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman (Jhenaidah-1), Zainul Abedin (Barishal-3), State Minister Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin (Chattogram-5), State Minister Farzana Sharmin (Natore-1), Mahmudul Hoque Rubel (Sherpur-3), and Shakila Farzana (Women’s Reserved Seat-8).
Other members include State Minister Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki (Brahmanbaria-6) from Ganashanghati Andolan, Andaleev Rahman (Bhola-1) from BJP, State Minister Nurul Haque (Patuakhali-3) from Gano Odhikar Parishad, and Oli Ullah (Barguna-1) from Islami Andolan Bangladesh.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the government was committed to fulfilling the aspirations of the people following the July mass uprising by repealing the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.
Rejecting the opposition’s argument regarding two oaths, Ahmed said parliament was elected under the existing Constitution, and the current parliamentary session had also been convened in accordance with it.
“If they say they have taken two oaths, we have not taken any such second oath,” he said, adding that taking an oath as members of the Constitution Reform Council has no constitutional or legal basis.
The home minister said the government wants to respect the public verdict delivered through the referendum, but the Constitution must first be amended to honour that verdict.
If any provisions relating to the Constitution Reform Council need to be incorporated into the Constitution through consensus, those issues could be discussed within the constitutional amendment committee, he said after the opposition lawmakers walked out of the House.
Before staging the walkout, Shafiqur Rahman, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami and leader of the opposition in the House, said the opposition did not give any assurance to include their names in such a committee.
“We have made our position clear. We never said that we would provide names. We did not accept it conceptually,” the opposition leader said, adding that political parties had committed to implementing the result of the referendum before the election.
It was on the basis of that commitment that they took oath as members of parliament and as members of the reform council, he said.
“If this committee is being formed to bypass that, then we reject this proposal,” he said, adding that democracy demands that the opinion of the people be respected.
“If the opinion expressed by nearly 68.6 percent of the people is ignored in this manner, it will undermine public confidence in the democratic system in the future,” he said, referring to the referendum that took place alongside the national election on February 12, 2026.
“This expression of the people’s will must not be insulted in any way. Out of respect for them, we will not only refrain from participating in this committee, but we are also walking out in protest against the failure to honour the people’s verdict,” he concluded before the opposition members staged the walkout on Monday night.
