It will take a long time to formulate a new constitution: Legal Advisor

ছবিঃ সংগৃহীত

News Desk: The new constitution will take a long time to be formulated, said Asif Nazrul, legal advisor to the interim government.

He expressed this opinion at a discussion meeting at the Matribhasha Institute in the capital on Sunday (May 11). A discussion was organized on the 7 proposals of the Citizen Initiative, Citizen Coalition and Citizen Alliance for Reforming the Democratic Structure of the State today.

The legal advisor said, the constitution is formulated by the National Parliament. There is also an opinion in our neighboring countries that it took 8-9 years to formulate a new constitution. It may take a long time to formulate a new constitution.

He said, will I now continue the 1972 constitution? Until the new constitution is formulated, the current parliament will work as the constitution director. It will bring amendments to the 1972 constitution if necessary.

Asif Nazrul said, when the Constituent Assembly works, it will continue to work on the new constitution. I think it may take 2-3 years to do that. Will I accept the 1972 constitution for these 2-3 years? When they continue to work as members of the National Assembly for these 2-3 years, some fundamentals of the parliament such as the power of the Prime Minister, Article 17, decentralization of the High Court, independence of the judiciary; these things will have to be changed.

Regarding the inclusion of the July Charter in the constitution, the legal advisor said, a lot of importance has been given to the July Charter. We assume that everyone will agree on many things in the July Charter. Maybe some fundamental things can also be included in the July Charter.

Regarding the Prime Minister's two-term term, Asif Nazrul said, this is a popular demand. My demand too. If the Prime Minister says two terms, it will not work, you will have to make a convincing argument. Find out which other countries in the world have it. In fact, the Prime Minister does not have two terms anywhere. Say India, say The UK, it does not exist anywhere. In fact, two terms is not a solution. The most important thing is to reduce the power of the Prime Minister.

Regarding the power of the upper house in parliament, the legal advisor said, the Chief Justice can be appointed by the President independently. In the Constitution of Bangladesh, the Chief Justice has unlimited power; he is the second most powerful person.