Drafting new constitution can take a long time: Asif Nazrul

Law Adviser Asif Nazrul today said that drafting a new constitution can take a long time.

"In some neighbouring countries, the drafting of a new constitution has taken as long as eight to nine years. It can take a long time to formulate a new constitution," Asif Nazrul noted.

"Will we continue with the 1972 constitution meanwhile?" he asked.

He proposed that the parliament that is active at the time could function as the constitutional authority until a new constitution is enacted and make necessary amendments to the 1972 constitution as needed.

"When they work as the Constituent Assembly, they can continue working on the constitution. In my opinion, that may take around two-three years," he said.

On the question of incorporating the July Charter into a future constitution, Asif Nazrul said, "We have assumed that there will be widespread consensus on many aspects of the July Charter. It's possible that some of its fundamental elements could be retained."

Addressing the growing call for limiting a prime minister's tenure to two terms, the adviser said, "This is a widely supported demand—and I support it too. But simply stating that the prime minister should serve only two terms isn't enough."

"You (politicians) need to make a convincing argument. Find out which countries have such a provision. In reality, no such limitation exists in countries like India or the United Kingdom. Just limiting terms isn't a solution—the most important issue is reducing the prime minister's excessive powers," he added.

The event was organised to deliberate on seven proposals put forward by Citizen's Coalition for Constitutional Reform, aimed at reforming the democratic structure of the state.

BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed also spoke at the event and argued that rather than drafting an entirely new constitution, the existing one could be amended through national consensus.

"In that case, forming a Constituent Assembly may not be necessary. Amendments are needed because the constitution has become diseased," he said.

Ali Riaz, vice-president of the National Consensus Commission, said the 1972 constitution itself created room for authoritarian tendencies.

"It gave unilateral power to the prime minister and failed to ensure accountability within the executive branch. It is essential to maintain a balance of power," he said.