In a recent article in The Diplomat, we argued that the proposed July Charter referendum strains Bangladesh’s constitutional framework to its limits by colliding with Articles 7 and 7B, and the amendment scheme in Part X of the Constitution. Even if these legal objections are set aside, and the process is assumed, generously, to be technically defensible, a more disconcerting question remains: who, precisely, is being empowered to “refound” the new constitutional order, and on whose behalf?

Under the Implementation Order of the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform), 2025 (“Implementation Order”), a successful “Yes” vote would transform the 13th Parliament into a Constitutional Reform Council (CRC) for 180 working days (Article 7). Orthodox constitutionalism provides that Parliament’s authority is derived from and limited by the existing Constitution. By pre-determining the substance and process of reform, the Implementation Order subordinates Parliament to an executive instrument, making the CRC constitutionally circular: it authorizes itself.

© The Diplomat