A 9-strong full commission has been formed to provide recommendations to the government for reviewing and evaluating the constitution and making necessary reforms.
The commission, led by Ali Riaz, a professor of politics and government at Illinois State University and an author, includes Mahfuz Alam, special assistant to the chief advisor, as the student representative.
On Monday, the Cabinet Division issued a notification assigning responsibilities to the remaining eight members of the commission.
– Professor Sumaiya Khair, Faculty of Law, Dhaka University
– Barrister Imran Siddiqui
– Supreme Court Advocate Sharif Bhuiyan
– Barrister M Moin Alam Ferozi
– Author and human rights activist Md Mustain Billah
– Student Representative Md Mahfuz Alam
Earlier on Thursday, a full commission was formed for the reform of the election system, police, judiciary, Anti-Corruption Commission, and public administration.
These commissions were formed by the interim government to advance the state reform process. Each commission includes one student representative.
Aside from the head of the commission, all other reform commissions, except the police and constitutional reform commissions, have eight members. The police and constitutional reform commissions have nine members each.
Like other commissions, the Constitutional Reform Commission has been given a timeline starting from Oct 6 to begin its work and submit a report within 90 days based on everyone’s opinions.
The commissions will submit their reports to Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus.
The notification regarding the formation of the full Constitutional Reform Commission said that the commission was formed with the approval of the chief advisor to review and evaluate the existing constitution for the establishment of a representative and effective democracy, as well as the empowerment of the people, and to prepare a report with necessary recommendations for constitutional reform.
The Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs will provide secretarial assistance to the commission.
In a speech to the nation on Sept 11, marking one month of taking office, Yunus mentioned that the commissions would complete their work within the next three months. On that day, he announced the names of the heads of six commissions.
However, later on, Professor Ali Riaz was appointed as the head of the Constitutional Reform Commission, replacing lawyer Shahdeen Malik.