He argued that there may be legal questions about whether a regular Parliament has the authority to change the basic structure of the Constitution. If amendments are adopted through the normal parliamentary process, they can later be challenged before the courts. Conversely, giving the incoming Parliament a specific and extraordinary mandate to undertake constitutional reform would eliminate such legal challenges.
However, the BNP expressed the view during those discussions that the formation of a separate council was unnecessary, believing that the existing constitutional amendment process was sufficient.
Furthermore, Jamaat-e-Islami, NCP and several other parties proposed that the Charter should be implemented by issuing a special order instead of an ordinance. The BNP opposed this view, arguing that there is no constitutional provision for such an order and the President can only issue an ordinance under the Constitution.
The National Consent Commission later sought expert opinion on these matters. Finally, on November 13 last year, the President promulgated the ‘July Charter (Constitutional Reform) Order’, which included provisions for the establishment of a Constitutional Reform Council.
Nevertheless, uncertainty remains about the extent to which the order will be effective in practice and whether it will withstand future legal scrutiny.