Rumin Farhana Explains Why She Did Not Take Oath for Constitution Reform Council

Rumin Farhana, Member of Parliament from Brahmanbaria-2 and a former BNP leader, has explained the reason behind her decision not to take the oath for the Constitution Reform Council.

She stated that she had already taken her first oath under the existing Constitution, making a second oath legally conflicting and illogical.

Rumin Farhana made these remarks while participating in a talk show on Germany-based media outlet Deutsche Welle (Bangla).

She said: “My argument was that you have come this far based on the existing Constitution. If right after 5 August you had declared this a revolutionary government, that you do not accept this Constitution and are discarding it to draft a new one, then there would have been a legal framework for a second oath. But since you did not do that, and you have taken the oath under Article 106 of the existing Constitution and have been operating under it for the last one and a half years, there is no scope for a second oath outside this Constitution. I also felt that since I took my first oath under the existing Constitution, taking a second oath is not possible for me.”

She added that taking a second oath would invalidate the first one. She also pointed out that there are debates regarding whether the interim government was formed properly under Article 106 of the Constitution. Some have questioned the process, noting that even the judges who advised on it later resigned.

Rumin Farhana noted that in the future, legal challenges could be raised on multiple aspects of the interim government’s formation. However, she said once something has happened, it cannot be reversed. “If challenged 10 years later, you cannot go back 10 years. So what has happened has to be accepted. There is no other way. But certainly, if you go by legal integrity, there are many opportunities to challenge every step.”