BNP rejects upper house role in constitutional amendments: Salahuddin

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has firmly objected to granting the upper house of parliament any authority over constitutional amendments, insisting that such jurisdiction must be reserved solely for the directly elected lower house.

Speaking during a break in the National Consensus Commission’s dialogue at the Foreign Service Academy, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed stated, “Granting amendment power to an unelected or indirectly elected upper house undermines democratic principles.”

He stressed that the upper chamber may review and recommend legislation, but the final decision must remain with the lower house.

Under the commission’s proposal, the upper house would consist of 100 members elected via proportional representation. Two-thirds support in both chambers would be required to amend the constitution. BNP has submitted a formal note of dissent against the proposal.

Regarding women MPs elected indirectly through reserved seats, Salahuddin clarified that they are part of the lower house and that the upper house should not gain legislative power. He accused some groups of attempting to centralize constitutional authority in the upper chamber through the PR system, which BNP opposes as undemocratic.

Salahuddin added that the BNP supports a two-year timeline for implementing the July Charter’s commitments and has suggested linguistic revisions to the commission’s draft. He also endorsed a constitutional amendment to Article 70 to ensure MPs can vote freely in presidential elections—through secret ballots—and affirmed support for enhancing presidential powers under a bicameral system.