Bangladesh to hold referendum on reform charter proposals, Yunus says

Bangladesh will hold a national referendum on implementing its ‘July Charter’ for state reform, drafted after last year’s deadly student-led uprising, Muhammad Yunus, the head of the country’s interim government, said on Thursday.

He also reiterated that parliamentary elections will be held in February and that they would be free and fair.

The July Charter seeks to reshape the country’s politics and institutions and give constitutional recognition to the 2024 uprising that forced Sheikh Hasina, a long-time prime minister, to flee to India.A majority of political parties had signed the charter in October but the National Citizens Party, formed by the leaders of last year’s movement and four left-leaning parties, had boycotted it.

The NCP said it stayed away due to the lack of a legal framework or binding guarantee for implementing the commitments made in the charter.

Supporters see the charter as a foundation for institutional reform. Critics say its impact could be largely symbolic without a legal framework or parliamentary consensus.