Law justice and parliamentary affairs minister Md Asaduzzaman on Saturday said that the non-passage of the referendum ordinance had no connection with implementing the July Charter.

According to the minister, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led opposition was claiming that scrapping the referendum would also cancel the July Charter, including the schedule for national elections and reform initiatives.

He dismissed the opposition claims as misleading and false, saying that they were intended to create confusion.

 ‘The July Charter is independent and self-sufficient. It clearly explains how it will be implemented, and that can be done by parliament,’ he said.

The referendum has no impact on whether the July Charter will be implemented, he iterated.

He was speaking as chief guest at the inauguration of a canal digging programme at Dhawra village in Shailkupa upazila of Jhenaidah, his electoral constituency.

Rejecting arguments that scrapping the referendum would nullify the charter, the minister said that the July Charter would be implemented through constitutional amendment.

‘There is no ambiguity about it,’ he added.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, he said, believes in the spirit of the July Charter and is committed to implement it.

He described the charter as a document ‘written in the blood of people’ during the July–August 2024 uprising.

Those who reject the 1972 constitution should note that it is part of the July Charter, he pointed out.

Questioning the opposition’s role in the Jatiya Sangsad, he urged them to join debates instead of boycotting proceedings.

‘You should debate what laws will be passed. Instead, you boycotted the president’s address,’ he commented.

The minister criticised the opposition for what he described as its contradictory positions.

They, he further said, supported the presidential order and ordinances on reforms and were taking part in discussions on the president’s speech, but earlier they had boycotted the speech during the first sitting of the 13th the Jatiya Sangsad calling him a ‘fascist’.

On the fuel situation, he warned of strict actions against hoarding and illegal reselling.

He alleged that some people were buying fuel repeatedly from different places and stockpiling it for illegal reselling.

‘We have taken a soft approach so far in this regard. If needed, we will enforce section 25 of the Special Powers Act, 1974, which allows severe punishment, including death penalty, for hoarding and unlawful reselling,’ he said.

He also asked law enforcement agencies and the administration to take tougher steps to prevent artificial shortages.

The programme, chaired by Jhenaidah deputy commissioner Md Abdullah Al Masud, was attended by local administration officials and BNP leaders.