Bot at 05:32, 16 October 2022

2022-10-16T05:32:49Z

New page

{{Infobox legislature
| name = Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh
| native_name = বাংলাদেশ গণপরিষদ
| native_name_lang =
| transcription_name =
| legislature =
| coa_pic = National emblem of Bangladesh.svg
| coa_res = 120 px
| term_limits =
| foundation = {{Start date|1971}}
| disbanded = {{End date|1973}}
| preceded_by = [[Parliament of Pakistan]] & [[East Pakistan Provincial Assembly]]
| succeeded_by = [[Jatiya Sangsad]]
| house_type = Unicameral
| houses =
| leader1_type =
| leader1 =
| party1 =
| election1 =
| leader2_type =
| leader2 =
| party2 =
| election2 =
| members = 404<ref name="Ahmed1990">{{cite book |author=Syed Giasuddin Ahmed |title=Bangladesh Public Service Commission |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BySOAAAAMAAJ |year=1990 |publisher=University of Dhaka |page=95}}</ref>
| house1 =
| structure1 =
| structure1_res = 250px
| political_groups1 =
| committees1 =
| joint_committees =
| voting_system1 =
| last_election1 =
| session_room =
| session_res =
| meeting_place = Parliament Building (now [[Prime Minister's Office (Bangladesh)|Prime Minister's Office]] in [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]])
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
{{politics of Bangladesh}}
The '''Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh''' was the [[constituent assembly]] of [[Bangladesh]]. It was the country's provisional parliament between 1971 and 1973. In 1972, it drafted and adopted the [[Constitution of Bangladesh]]. The assembly was dominated by the [[Awami League]], with a minority being independent lawmakers.

==Creation==
Prior to the 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], the [[1970 Pakistani general election|first general election of Pakistan]] saw 169 seats in [[East Pakistan]] being contested for the [[National Assembly of Pakistan]] and 300 seats for the [[East Pakistan Provincial Assembly]]. The [[Awami League]] party ran on the platform of developing a new Pakistani constitution based on the [[Six point movement|1966 Six Points]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://storyofpakistan.com/awami-leagues-six-point-program |title=Awami League’s Six-Point Program - Constitutional solution of East Pakistan’s Problems |date=1 June 2022}}</ref> The Awami League won 167 out of 169 seats in the National Assembly and 288 out of 300 seats in the Provincial Assembly. Despite gaining the right to form a government, it was not allowed to take power by the erstwhile [[military junta]] in [[West Pakistan]]. The delay in the transfer of power sparked the liberation war.

During the war, elected representatives met in [[Mujibnagar]] on 17 April 1971. They signed the [[Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence]], which was declared as a provisional constitution. The elected representatives were transformed into a constituent assembly. After the war ended, the assembly convened in January 1972.

==Members==
The initial tally of members was 469. However, the tally dropped to 404 after the war. Ten legislators had died, of whom five were killed by the Pakistan Army. 23 were disqualified or expelled from their party, the Awami League; and two defected to Pakistan.<ref name="TushnetKhosla2015">{{cite book |author1=Mark Tushnet |author2=Madhav Khosla |title=Unstable Constitutionalism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ojMZCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 |date=17 September 2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-06895-7 |page=195}}</ref>

[[Shah Abdul Hamid]] was elected as the assembly's speaker and [[Mohammad Mohammadullah]] as deputy speaker.<ref name="Momen1980">{{cite book |author=Nurul Momen |title=Bangladesh, the First Four Years: From 16 December 1971 to 15 December 1975 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZRINAAAAIAAJ |year=1980 |publisher=Bangladesh Institute of Law & International Affairs |page=19}}</ref>

==Rules of Procedure==
The Rules of Procedure was adopted in the first two-day plenary session.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.agora-parl.org/sites/default/files/rules_for_princeton.pdf |title=Rules of Procedure for the Constituent Assembly |format=PDF |accessdate=}}</ref>

==Drafting committee==
The Constitution Drafting Committee was formed on 11 April 1972.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_PIX6WBZgcC |title=Rights, Emergencies, and Judicial Review |last=Omar |first=Imtiaz |year=1996 |publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers |isbn=9041102299 |page=31 |language=en}}</ref> It had 34 members with [[Kamal Hossain]] as chairman.<ref name="thedailystar.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/we-the-people-2200 |title=We, The People |date=13 December 2022}}</ref> Razia Banu was its only female member. Barrister Amirul Islam and Advocate [[Suranjit Sengupta]] were among the prominent members on the committee. Sengupta was a vocal member of the opposition bench.<ref name="thedailystar.net"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/law-our-rights/law-interview/constitutional-governance-ensures-the-growth-democracy-1311100 |title=Constitutional governance ensures the growth of democracy |date=8 November 2022}}</ref>

Members of the committee are included below. The abbreviations MNA stands for "Member of the National Assembly" and MPA for "Member of the Provincial Assembly".

# [[Kamal Hossain]] (MNA- Dhaka-9)
# Md. Lutfor Rahman (MNA- Rangpur-4)
# [[Abu Sayeed]] (MNA- Pabna-5)
# M Abdur Rahim (MPA-Dinajpur-7)
# M Amir-ul Islam (MNA- Kushtia-1)
# Mohammad Nurul Islam Manjur (MNA- Bakerganj-3)
# Abdul Muntakim Chowdhury (MNA- Sylhet-5)
# Khatish Chandra (MPA-Bakerganj-15)
# [[Suranjit Sengupta]] (MNA- Sylhet-2)
# [[Syed Nazrul Islam]] (MNA- Mymensingh-17)
# [[Tajuddin Ahmad]] (MNA- Dhaka-5)
# [[Khandakar Mushtaq Ahmed]] (MNA- Cumilla -8)
# [[AHM Qamaruzzaman]] (MNA- Rajshahi-6)
# Abdul Mamin Talukder (MNA- Pabna-3)
# Abdur Rouf (MNA- Rangpur-11)
# Mohammad Baitullah (MNA- Rajshahi -3)
# Barrister [[Badal Rashid]],<ref>
Barrister Badal rashid, was a Bangladeshi politician, MNA and a leading member of the [[Awami League]].

A member of the [[Mujibnagar Government]].

He was one of the organizer of liberation war of our motherland.

He was the main adviser of south west sector during the liberation war of Bangladesh.

He was the Founder President of Bangladesh Krishok League.

</ref> Bar-at-Law. P.A Of [[Tajuddin Ahmad]] Of Mujib Nagar Sarkar.
# Khandaker Abdul Hafiz (MNA- Jessore 7)
# Shaukat Ali Khan (MNA- Tangail-2)
# Md Humayun Khalid
# Asaduzzaman Khan (MPA- Jessore-10)
# A.K. Mosharraf Hossain Akhand (MNA-Mymensingh-6)
# Abdul Momin
# Shamsuddin Molla (MNA-Faridpur-4)
# Sheikh Abdur Rahman (MNA-Khulna-2)
# Fakir Sahab Uddin Ahmed
# Khurshed Alam (MNA-Cumilla-7)
# Sirajul Haque (MNA-Cumilla-4)
# Dewan Abu Abbas (MNA-Cumilla-5)
# Abdur Rashid (MNA-Noakhali-)
# Hafez Habibur Rahman (MNA-Cumilla-12)
# Nurul Islam Chowdhury (MPA-Chattragram-6)
# Muhammad Khaled (MPA-Chattragram—5)
# Begum Razia Bano (women's seats, National Assembly)

==Citizenship debate==
The minority Chakma lawmaker [[Manabendra Narayan Larma]] protested the use of the term "[[Bengali people|Bengali]]" to describe all Bangladeshi citizens. Larma said in his speech that "Under no definition or logic can a Chakma be a Bengali or a Bengali be a Chakma… As citizens of Bangladesh we are all Bangladeshis, but we also have a separate ethnic identity...".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-153616 |title=Our constitution |date=5 September 2010 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref>

==Article 70==
Under the interim constitution, law making powers resided with the executive branch. When K. M. Obaidur Rahman, an Awami League lawmaker, raised a question as to why the constituent assembly was not given legislative powers, Prime Minister [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] became annoyed. Subsequently, on the advice of the prime minister, President [[Abu Sayeed Chowdhury]] introduced the Bangladesh Constituent Assembly (Cessation of Membership) Order 1972. The order stipulated that any resolution by a lawmaker without the approval of his/her party would result in expulsion from the assembly. The order inspired [[Article 70 of the Constitution of Bangladesh]], which bans [[free vote]]s and [[crossing the floor]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cpd.org.bd/pub_attach/To%20Amend%20Article%2070%20or%20not.pdf |title=To amend Article 70 or not |author=Hasanuzzaman |date=22 April 2011 |type=Op-ed |website=Centre for Policy Dialogue}}</ref>

==Enactment==
The Assembly approved the constitution on 4 November 1972, and it took effect on 16 December 1972—a day commemorated as [[Victory day of Bangladesh|Victory day]] in Bangladesh.<ref>{{cite book |last=Islam |first=Sirajul |year=2012 |chapter=Constitution |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Constitution |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> Once the constitution took effect, the constituent assembly became the provisional parliament of Bangladesh until the [[1973 Bangladeshi general election|first elections]] under the new constitution took place in 1973.

==Legacy==
{{See also|Amendments to the Constitution of Bangladesh}}
The constitution founded the [[unitary state|unitary]] [[parliamentary republic]] in Bangladesh. It laid down a list of [[fundamental rights in Bangladesh]]. The original 1972 constitution is often cited as the most democratic in Bangladesh's history, given later amendments which undermined the constitution's democratic credentials, including the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and the freedom of MPs to vote and debate in parliament. However, the constitution left wide powers for [[Judicial review in Bangladesh|judicial review]] and judicial precedent, making Bangladesh a part of the [[common law]] world.

The first blows to the original constitution came in 1973 and 1974, when Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's government passed amendments that gave the state the power to suspend fundamental rights during a [[state of emergency]]. In 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman enacted a [[presidential government]] under a [[one party state]]. Following his assassination, quasi-military rulers continued the presidential form of government, but restored [[multiparty]] politics. An executive presidency lasted till 1990, when parliamentary democracy was restored; and the presidency returned to its ceremonial nature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Constitutional_Amendments |title=Constitutional Amendments |website=Banglapedia}}</ref>

As a result of the controversial Article 70, Bangladesh has never seen a [[no-confidence]] motion to remove a prime minister, even though the country's prime ministers are often accused of [[dictatorship]] and incompetence. The lack of checks and balances is often criticized.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/politics/constitutional-reform-healthy-politics%E2%80%99-81493 |title=Constitutional reform for healthy politics |date=10 May 2015 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref>

The dominance of left-wing parties led by the Awami League in the constituent assembly resulted in numerous references to [[socialism]] in the document. The socialist influence contradicts with Bangladesh's largely free market economy.

The citizenship debate of "Bengali v Bangladeshi" contributed to a sense of alienation among the indigenous hill population in the country's southeast, and was seen as a factor behind the [[Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict]], which lasted for two decades until 1997.<ref name="Hosena1999">{{cite book |author=Saiẏada Ānoẏāra Hosena |title=War and peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts: retrospect and prospect |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TAluAAAAMAAJ |year=1999 |publisher=Agamee Prakashani |isbn=978-984-401-541-8 |page=16}}</ref>

The unitary state laid down by the constitution has been a stumbling block for decentralizing Bangladesh's judiciary. When the government created [[High Court]]s in cities like Sylhet, Rajshahi and Chittagong in 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that it was in contradiction of the unitary state.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/law/2012/08/01/index.htm |title=Road to decentralisation of the High Court blocked |author=Muhammad Mamunur Rashid |date=4 August 2012 |work=Law and Our Rights |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806000412/http://www.thedailystar.net/law/2012/08/01/index.htm |archive-date=6 August 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Constituent Assembly of India]]
*[[Constituent Assembly of Pakistan]]
*[[Legislatures of British India]]
*[[Bengal Legislative Assembly]]
*[[Bengal Legislative Council]]
*[[Legislative Council of Eastern Bengal and Assam]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Constituent assemblies|Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:Constitution of Bangladesh]]

Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh - Revision history

Bot at 05:32, 16 October 2022