The Mass Solidarity Movement has welcomed the Appellate Division’s verdict upholding the caretaker government system and referendum provisions in the 15th Amendment to the Constitution case.
On Thursday (July 9), the Chief Coordinator (Acting) of the Mass Solidarity Movement, Dewan Abdur Rashid Nilu, and Executive Coordinator, Abul Hasan Rubel, made this known in a press statement.
In a statement, they said that this ruling is an important step towards establishing people’s voting rights.
The leaders said that the Mass Solidarity Movement has been opposing the undemocratic character of the Fifteenth Amendment since its passage in 2011.
At that time, we clearly stated that changing the basic structure of the Constitution without the consent of the people, abolishing the caretaker government system, repealing the provision of referendum, and adding provisions like Articles 7A and 7B would undermine democracy, the political rights of the people, and the fundamental spirit of the Constitution. Today’s verdict is an important constitutional recognition of that position.
This ruling is an important step in re-establishing the constitutional foundations of popular sovereignty, democracy, freedom of expression, and free, fair, and credible elections.
They also said that this ruling also proved that the constitution cannot be changed for partisan and authoritarian interests by using the temporary majority of state power.
It is against the spirit of the Constitution to undermine the basic structure of the Constitution, the sovereignty of the people, and the fundamental rights of citizens for the political advantage of any government.
They further said, however, that this verdict has not completely resolved the constitutional crisis in Bangladesh. The struggle to establish a democratic constitution for the democratic transformation of Bangladesh is ongoing. The necessary constitutional reforms must continue to ensure an effective balance of state power, full independence of the judiciary, equal rights of all ethnicities, fundamental freedoms of citizens and the right of the people to vote. In this vein, they called for the immediate implementation of the July Charter through discussions in parliament.