Leaders of six professional bodies on Sunday urged the Constitution Reform Commission to recommend measures aimed at rebalancing powers between the president and the prime minister as well as fortifying the judiciary and local government systems.
The call came during meetings with the commission.
Cultural, rights activists and ethnic minority activists also met with the commission on the day.
The meetings held in the Cabinet Room of the Parliament building were presided over by commission chairman professor Ali Riaz.
Several participants confirmed 抖阴精品 that the professional leaders emphasised the need for comprehensive constitutional reforms to address systemic imbalances and enhance governance.
They urged the commission to submit actionable recommendations to the interim government, reflecting these priorities.
Their meetings underscored growing calls from the civil society for a more accountable and balanced governance structure in Bangladesh.
Emerging from their meeting with the commission, Supreme Court Bar Association president AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon said that they recommended amendment of the present constitution to restore the non-party caretaker government, ensure balance between the powers of the prime minister and the president, and strengthen the local government system.
The Supreme Court Bar Association also emphasised at the meeting strengthening of the judiciary and framing rules for appointment of Supreme Court judges as part of the strengthening of the judiciary.
He said that the students led the movement against discrimination, but they had no mandate to reform the state. Reforming the state is a political action which the interim government did not have the mandate to do, he added.
This revolutionary government can make arrangement for political dialogues over the proposed reform work for creating consensus among the political parties, he added.
Mahbub Uddin Khokon further said that the political parties should reach a consensus that whoever would come to power would bring the recommended reforms in the first or second session of the parliament.
People might cast doubt about the interim government鈥檚 intention if they became busy with the reform activities instead of doing day to day work, he said.
The professional bodies represented in the meetings were鈥擲upreme Court Bar Association, represented by its president AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon and executive member Shafiqul Islam; Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, represented by its secretary general Kader Gani Chowdhury and treasurer Shahidul Islam; Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce Industry, represented by Nasrin Begum, Chowdhury Mokimuddin KJ Ali, Jamil Uddin Milton; Institution of Diploma Engineers, represented by Kabir Hossain and Gias Uddin; Garment Shramik Sanghati, represented by its leaders Anjan Das, Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury and Sabina Yasmin; and Bangladesh Institute of Planners, represented by its president Adil Muhammad Khan.
In separate meetings on the day, representatives of indigenous communities also met with the Constitution Reform Commission, urging the removal of terms like 鈥榚thnic minority鈥� and 鈥榯ribal鈥� from the constitution.
They called for these terms to be replaced with 鈥榠ndigenous people鈥� in any proposed constitutional amendments or rewrites, emphasising the importance of accurate and respectful recognition of their identity.
The representatives included Chittagong Hill Tracts Citizen Committee member Nirupa Dewan, former Human Rights Commission member Hari Purna Tripura, and Bangladesh Indigenous People Network leaders Gipishan Kumar Suchiang and Nabadeep Kumar.
Singer Asif Akbar, cultural activist Sarwar Tushar, rights activists Maha Mirza, Arup Rahi, Imran Mahfuz, Syed Nizar, lawyer Arif Khan, ethnic minority rights activist Ilira Dewan, and Dipak Kumar Goswami also had meetings with the commission on the day.
Commission members professors Sumaiya Khayer and Muhammad Ekramul Haque, lawyers Sharif Bhuiyan, Imran Abdullah Siddiq, and Mohammad Moyeen Alam Firozee, writer Firoz Ahmed and right activist Md Mustain Billah were present at the meeting.
