March 7 speech will be removed from constitution: Home Minister

The constitution is not reformed but rather repealed, suspended or amended, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said. He has announced that the March 7 speech will be removed from the constitution.

Speaking in parliament recently, the home minister said the fifteenth amendment was a "legislative fraud" committed on the constitution.

He claimed that some parts of this amendment have already been declared unconstitutional by the High Court, and the remaining parts will be repealed or amended through parliamentary decisions.

He said the false history and so-called declaration of independence imposed through schedules 5, 6 and 7 must be abolished.

Regarding the history of the declaration of independence, Salahuddin Ahmed said Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman declared independence on March 26 and made a proclamation as the provisional head of state from Kalurghat on March 27. "This is the true history, and we want to restore it in the constitution," he said.

On the state structure, the home minister said the people are the owners of all state power, and that power is exercised through parliament.

He also informed that the government has received a mandate to introduce a 100-member upper house, where political parties will be represented proportionally.