Bangladesh at crossroads as it pursues sweeping constitutional reform 

Washington — 

As Bangladesh pursues law reform, planetary ineligible experts accidental a consensus-based process is captious for creating an enduring charter and ensuring governmental stableness successful South Asia’s 3rd astir populous nation.

The ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina successful August pushed her Awami League enactment retired of power, raising concerns that a cardinal subordinate could beryllium excluded from a process shaping Bangladesh's future.

In response, the nine-week interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, precocious formed a law betterment panel, portion of a broader effort to fortify institutions and avert a instrumentality to authoritarian rule.

The panel, 1 of six betterment commissions, faces a dilemma: amend the country's 52-year-old constitution oregon statesman afresh. A law rewrite could tackle the issues raised by the caller protests that toppled Hasina's government. Amending the papers is quicker but mightiness permission cardinal problems unresolved. Complicating matters, cardinal provisions of the constitution are not amendable.

Regardless of the way Bangladesh takes, the acquisition from different countries that person implemented alteration is unmistakable: Experts accidental palmy betterment requires the engagement of each large stakeholders.

“The main task of constitutions is to transmission radical decisions distant from unit into politics,” said Tarun Khaitan, a prof of nationalist instrumentality astatine the London School of Economics. “So, what bash you bash if you're a radical which has nary stock successful governmental powerfulness and nary anticipation of sharing governmental powerfulness immoderate clip successful the future? You volition instrumentality to violence.”

Yet successful a state arsenic profoundly divided arsenic Bangladesh, gathering statement implicit a caller constitution is simply a gangly order. Two parties — the Awami League and the Bangladesh National Party, oregon BNP — person dominated authorities since its founding successful 1971.

Except for 2 uncommon moments of unity successful the 1990s, each enactment has “tried to crippled the strategy and fastener the different retired of power,” making Bangladesh perennially unstable.

"I deliberation that is the contented that immoderate law colony has to resolve," Khaitan said.

Three planetary lessons

Richard Albert, an adept connected constitution-making and law plan astatine the University of Texas, noted 3 lessons that Bangladesh tin larn from different parts of the world.

First, the process matters much than the papers itself. This means that citizens indispensable beryllium engaged successful each step, from providing input to enacting the Charter, Albert said.

“We cognize that erstwhile radical are progressive successful the constitution-making process… that sets the signifier for a stronger, much enduring, much morganatic constitution,” Albert, who sits connected Jamaica’s law betterment committee, said successful an interrogation with VOA.

Second, defy turning the constitution into a privation list. Many countries marque the mistake of including excessively galore promises that they cannot deliver.

The rules enshrined successful a constitution, Albert said, “must mean thing erstwhile they're written successful the substance of the country's higher [or highest] law.”

Third, the radical are the eventual root of legitimacy for a constitution, Albert said. The papers indispensable embody the values and aspirations of the citizens.

“They don’t person to beryllium progressive successful the writing, the drafting, the deliberation of the constitution, but the radical indispensable consciousness and judge that the constitution represents them,” Albert said.

There are different lessons too. While nationalist information is important, the consent of large societal and governmental groups is paramount, Khaitan said. Without a “consensual process,” helium said, number groups tin find themselves near out.

Case successful point: Nepal, wherever the number Madhesis were sidelined contempt wide nationalist information successful the making of the 2015 constitution.

Lesson from Chile

Elsewhere, a deficiency of statement has led to outright rejection of a constitution. Among ineligible scholars, Chile is the poster kid for however not to bash law reform. In caller years, 2 successive governments — 1 left-leaning, the different right-wing — tried and failed to regenerate a Pinochet-era constitution with a caller 1 stacked with ideological priorities.

To immoderate law experts, the South American country’s acquisition suggests that wholesale law overhauls tin neglect successful profoundly polarized countries specified arsenic Bangladesh.

“Pursuing law replacement processes successful specified an situation tin go an accidental to substance intolerance,” Aldo Valle, a Chilean lawyer and erstwhile vice president of the country’s law council, wrote successful a blog station successful 2023.

Bangladesh’s constitution gives parliament the powerfulness to enact amendments.

A 2011 amendment, however, bars changes to basal provisions, from citizens’ cardinal rights to Islam’s designation arsenic the authorities religion.

Such “constitutional unamendability” is progressively communal astir the world, with countries similar Turkey and France making definite law provisions unchangeable. In Bangladesh, however, the constitution allows “one to go incredibly almighty and it has immoderate paths for creating autocracy," making a rewrite necessary, Ali Riaz, the country's constitution sheet chief, told The Daily Star paper anterior to his assignment earlier successful September.

Waris Husain, an adjunct prof of instrumentality astatine Howard University, said drafting a caller constitution is the easier portion of constitution-making, and determination are galore palmy models that Bangladesh tin gully on. The existent challenge, Husain said, is securing the buy-in of each stakeholders.

“One of the things that you wouldn't privation to hap is if you rapidly walk a constitution and past subsequently determination are truthful galore issues that are raised astir it and radical haven't bought into that constitution,” Husain said successful an interrogation with VOA.

If Bangladesh were to draught a caller constitution and enactment it to a referendum, it would apt person a higher occurrence complaint than pushing done an amendment. According to a 2019 study, 94% of referendums to o.k. a constitution succeed, portion 40% of referendums to amend an existing papers fail.

“If the program successful Bangladesh is to person recourse to a referendum, the information volition beryllium important to consider,” Albert said.

As it nears its 2nd period successful office, the interim authorities faces increasing unit to present results. But experts accidental law betterment cannot beryllium rushed done — it took Nepal 7 years to enact a caller charter.

Yet Bangladesh’s “constitutional moment,” a play marked by governmental turmoil and calls for important change, tin beryllium fleeting, experts say.

“Public appetite for grand, important changes typically remains short-lived,” said Khaitan. “Bread and food issues thin to travel to predominate precise quickly."