Hasnat Kayum boycotts Constitution Amendment Committee meeting

Hasnat Kayum, president of the State Reform Movement, has boycotted a meeting of the special committee formed to amend the Constitution in the 13th National Parliament. He left the meeting held at the Cabinet Room of the National Parliament Building at 2:30pm on Sunday, September 20, after participating and expressing his protest.

Representatives of 26 political parties and alliances that signed the July Charter were invited to the meeting. However, representatives of the opposition parties did not participate in the meeting.

Explaining the reason for boycotting the meeting, Hasnat Kayum said they have long been demanding the implementation of reforms by forming a Reform Council instead of amending the Constitution. He also claimed there was no dissent or dissenting note on the method of implementing reforms in the discussions of the National Consensus Commission.

Hasnat Kayum said that if matters such as changing the fundamental structure of the Constitution are implemented through amendments, there remains scope for them to be annulled in court in the future. For this reason, a Reform Council is needed to reform the Constitution based on the people's mandate.

He said that although it was supposed to determine the method of discussing and implementing the issues through the National Consensus Commission, after coming to power, the government formed a special committee to amend the Constitution. They came to the meeting just to protest this.

Hasnat Kayum further said that changes made through amendments can again be changed by any subsequent government with a two-thirds majority. Again, if the fundamental structure of the Constitution is changed, the High Court can also annul the amendment. Therefore, if changes are to be made based on the people's mandate, a people's mandate must also be ensured for that change.

Asked what the committee said at the meeting, Hasnat Kayum said committee members said the relevant implementation order is unconstitutional and that no consensus has yet been reached on forming a Reform Council. However, they said they would consider discussing the matter and taking a decision later.