DHAKA: A serial meeting of the parliamentary special committee for constitutional amendment set for September 4, 5 and 6 for the final work has been postponed for reasons not known.

The parliament secretariat in a press release sent Thursday by its director Joinal Abedin said the 4th, 5th and 6th meetings set for 4th 5th and 6th of September “will not be held on schedule for unavoidable reasons”.

When contacted, Suranjit Sengupta, co-chairman of the parliamentary panel, told banglanews24.com.bd that there is no specific reason for postponing the serialized meetings.

“Next schedule of the meetings will be declared immediately after Eid,” he said.

The press release of the parliament secretariat said next schedule for the meetings will be declared later on.

The parliamentary special committee for constitutional amendment had decided to hold the brainstorming meetings to finalise the amendment proposals incorporating major changes in the country’s basic laws and principles.

Its last meeting was held on August 24 at the Sangsad Bhaban. “The committee will also review its reports on the proposed amendments before finalising in September,” Sengupta had said in a press briefing at the Parliament Media Centre after the meeting.

With committee chair and deputy leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury in the chair, the committee meeting had set September 4, 5 and 6 for holding three meetings for a reappraisal of the reports for finalising the amendments.

The committee was formed on July 21, consisting of only the ruling Awami League-led grand-alliance lawmakers, as BNP declined to nominate their representative following an invitation from the ruling party.

The committee is set to recommend going back to the core constitutional principles, stopping usurpation of state power, reestablishing people’s sovereign power and preserving spirit of the liberation war through executing the highest court’s verdict.

The amendments will be approved after the placing of the committee’s recommendations in Parliament, giving the severely scratched basic law book of the nation a new look through omissions and commissions in line with the Supreme Court judgment annulling the Fifth Amendment that had ratified martial-law regimes and their doings since the August 15, 1975 bloody coup.

In the meantime, the Seventh Amendment of ratifying Ershad’s military regime and its doings has also been done away with by a recent High Court verdict, further expanding scope of work of the committee.       

BDST 1641 HRS, SEP 02, 2010