No need for a 'new Bangladesh' without a new constitution: Nahid

Nahid Islam, Convener of the National Citizens' Party (NCP), stated that there is no need to build a "new Bangladesh" without first drafting a new constitution.

He made these remarks on Sunday (May 11) during a discussion held at the Mother Language Institute in Dhaka. The event was organized around seven proposals put forward by Citizen Initiative, Citizen Coalition, and the Citizens' Alliance for Constitutional Reform to restructure the country's democratic framework.

Nahid argued that the current constitution has failed to protect fundamental human rights, and that a new constitution is necessary to rebuild trust and establish a meaningful relationship between the state and its people. He emphasized the importance of pursuing fundamental reforms, stating that consensus on trivial issues is meaningless without agreement on core principles.

“Unless we reach consensus on fundamental issues like the balance and decentralization of power, achieving agreement on other matters will not keep the democratic process alive,” he said.

Nahid also criticized past amendments to the constitution, saying, “The constitution has been changed at the whim of a single individual. Even after such a massive popular uprising, the failure to agree on basic constitutional reforms is deeply unfortunate.”

He concluded by saying that once there is a national consensus on constitutional reform, there should be no objections regarding elections. “I hope we can move forward quickly through compromise,” he added.