Dhaka, June 25 (V7N) — The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has decided to support a constitutional provision that would limit any individual from serving as Prime Minister for more than ten years. The proposal forms part of the party’s broader reform agenda aimed at ensuring democratic accountability and preventing the monopolization of executive power.
 
The decision was made during a meeting of the BNP’s Standing Committee held on Tuesday night at the party chairperson’s political office in Gulshan, Dhaka. The meeting was presided over virtually from London by the party’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.
 
According to sources familiar with the meeting, BNP leaders emphasized the importance of introducing a constitutional safeguard to prevent any single individual from remaining in the country's top executive post for an extended period. “Term limits are a necessary measure to preserve the spirit of democratic rotation and prevent authoritarian drift,” a senior BNP official told the media on condition of anonymity.
 
However, the party has expressed strong opposition to another key reform proposal — the establishment of a National Constitutional Council (NCC)-like body to oversee appointments to major constitutional institutions. The BNP leadership believes that such a body would contradict the principles of the existing Constitution and could centralize power in a non-transparent manner.
 
Senior BNP figures reportedly view the NCC model as inconsistent with Bangladesh’s constitutional framework and have warned against adopting a system that could politicize or undermine the independence of constitutional bodies.
 
The Standing Committee's resolutions come as part of BNP’s broader efforts to propose structural reforms that it claims would restore democratic balance and transparency in governance, particularly following years of political tension under the ruling Awami League government.
 
The BNP has yet to disclose when or how these proposals will be formally introduced, but party officials indicate that they will form part of the party's future political manifesto.
 
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