NCP backs referendum on February election day but prefers earlier vote

A leader of the National Citizens' Party expressed willingness on Sunday to conduct a referendum on the July Charter alongside February elections if needed, though he said an earlier vote would be better. Nahid Islam, the party convener and former student activist from last year's uprising, accused the two largest opposition groups of manufacturing disputes about timing to distract from the charter itself.

Speaking at party headquarters, Islam said authorities could accommodate both the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's preference for a referendum during elections and Jamaat-e-Islami's call for a separate earlier vote, depending on logistical capabilities. He endorsed the National Consensus Commission's recommendation that constitutional changes approved through the referendum take effect after elections, regardless of parliamentary consent.

Islam insisted Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus must authorize implementing the July Charter rather than President Mohammed Shahabuddin, arguing the latter's ties to the Awami League would contradict the uprising's rejection of that government's authoritarianism. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has countered that neither the chief adviser nor cabinet members possess legal authority to issue such directives.