Our Constitution

Commitment

We, the members of Bangladesh Social Democratic Party (BSDP), united by the promise of justice, equality and the welfare of all citizens, establish this constitution to promote social democracy, ensure the principles of social justice and build a progressive and inclusive society. We are committed to serving every citizen without any discrimination of race, religion, gender, or socio-economic status.

Our goal is to transform Bangladesh into a nation where every individual has the opportunity to thrive, participate and contribute to the overall development of the country. Our goal is to promote unity, inclusion and progress to ensure a prosperous future for Bangladesh and to stand before the world as a developed country.

Name and Symbol

Name: The name of this organization will be Bangladesh Social Democratic Party. In English, the name will be “Bangladesh Social Democratic Party (BSDP). The abbreviation will be Social Democratic Party.

Location: The party’s central office will be in the capital Dhaka. The party’s branch offices will be throughout the country.

Symbol and flag: The symbol of the hopes and aspirations of the people of Bangladesh will represent unity, justice and progress. The party’s symbol is the Sunflower.

Basic principles: Social democracy (welfare state, mixed economy, civil rights and reduction of economic inequality).

Slogan: One country, one family – equal rights for all.

Objectives

The objectives of the BSDP:

Country and nation first: The independence, sovereignty, security, state cohesion and democracy of Bangladesh will be strengthened and strengthened through mass unity.

The interests and well-being of the people of Bangladesh will be given priority in every decision and action of the party. Social justice, equality and inclusion will be promoted for all citizens of Bangladesh, regardless of religion, caste, gender or background.

Representation of youth interests

The new political party BSDP is a political party of the youth, especially students Prioritize the needs and aspirations of those who are often at the forefront of change. This group will place particular emphasis on addressing issues such as education reform, job opportunities, and civil rights.

Empowerment: Empowering all segments of society through equal opportunities.

Integrity: Upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in governance. Promoting democratic governance, ensuring transparency, accountability, and the rule of law in all state activities.

Rights: Advocating for a fair and equitable economic system that supports all segments of society and protects the rights of all communities.

Welfare State: Advocating for education, healthcare, and social welfare to improve the quality of life of all citizens.

Sustainability: Advocating for sustainable development and the environment. Ensuring environmental sustainability and responsible use of natural resources as essential components of social democracy.

Unity: Building national unity and social cohesion among diverse communities. Networking and Alliances Engaging in international cooperation and solidarity with likeminded political parties and organizations in promoting social democracy.

Vision Statement

The vision of BSDP is to establish a just and equitable society where every citizen has the opportunity to fulfil their basic needs and develop.

Mission Statement

The party will implement this vision even if it does not get government power through social welfare initiatives. Among these initiatives, unemployment, healthcare, education, skill development, access to technology and digital inclusion will be implemented on a priority basis. A dedicated committee will be formed within the party for social welfare projects. This committee will oversee the planning, implementation and evaluation of welfare initiatives.

Membership

Eligibility: BSDP membership will be open to all citizens of Bangladesh who support the vision, mission and objectives of the party, regardless of age, gender, background or affiliation. Any Bangladeshi citizen aged 18 years and above can become a primary member of this party. Candidates will have to declare that they will abide by the party’s rules, constitution and programs. To obtain primary membership, one must apply in the prescribed form of the party.

Party Subscription

The annual subscription for the initial membership of the party is 100 taka. However, any member can voluntarily pay a higher amount.

Rights and Responsibilities: Members have the right to participate in party activities, vote in internal elections and be involved in the decision-making process. Members will also uphold the values and principles of the party, promote its objectives and contribute to its activities.

Termination of Membership: Membership can be cancelled for serious violations of party policies (misconduct or breach of discipline or allegations of involvement in anti-party activities). The party’s standing committee can cancel or temporarily suspend membership or take disciplinary action against anyone.

Resignation from Membership:

Any member of the party can resign by writing to the chairman.

A Member of Parliament (MP) nominated by the party will be considered to have resigned if he changes his seat without the prior permission of the party’s standing committee or forms an alliance with another party or does anything contrary to the party’s position in parliament.

Party Structure

Organizational Policy and Structure

The BSDP will be organized from the primary level of the country to the union and municipality/city corporation ward levels and will expand to the national level. The organizational structure of the party will be as follows:

1) Union Ward Council and Union Ward Executive Committee

2) Municipality/Metropolitan, Ward Council and Municipality/Metropolitan, Ward Executive Committee

3) Union Parishad and Union Executive Committee

4) Upazila/Thana Parishad and Upazila/Thana Executive Committee

5) Municipality Council and Municipality Executive Committee

6) Metropolitan Council and Metropolitan Executive Committee

7) District Council and District Executive Committee

8) National Council

9) National Standing Committee

10) National Executive Committee

11) Parliamentary Board

12) Overseas Organizations

Organizational Structure

In all committees from ward to metropolitan, the concerned council will elect a president, a prescribed number of vice-presidents, a treasurer, a deputy treasurer and a prescribed number of secretaries, joint secretaries and members. The number of women in all committees at all levels of the party will be at least 35% and this number will be gradually increased.

Union Ward Council and Union Ward Executive Committee:

A party council will be formed in each union ward with a minimum of 101 primary members. The council will elect a union ward executive committee consisting of not less than 51 members from among the members of the council for a period of two years. The executive committees of the party at various levels will implement, supervise and control the party program in their respective areas.

A new committee will be elected by the council within 3 (three) months of the expiration of the term of all committees from the ward committee to the district/metropolitan committee. If it is not possible to form a new committee through elections within this period, the senior committee can extend the term of the concerned committee for another 3 (three) months for reasonable reasons. If a new committee is not formed within this period, the previous committee will be considered cancelled and the senior committee will form a convening committee of the concerned area within 3 (three) months on the condition of forming the committee through the council. If the convening committee fails to form a full committee within the stipulated time, the center will form the committee for a specific period.

The Metropolitan/District Committee, the concerned committee from the ward can take action against the officers and members for the purpose of maintaining internal discipline.

However, if someone is to be temporarily expelled, permission must be obtained from the Approval Committee and if someone is to be expelled, permission must be obtained from the National Executive Committee or the Chairman of the party.

National Council

The party will have a National Council called the ‘National Council’, the constitution of which is as follows:

1) The President and General Secretary of each Upazila/Thana Executive Committee (including Metropolitan Thana);

2) The President and General Secretary of each Puroshoba Executive Committee;

3) The President and General Secretary of each Metropolitan Executive Committee;

4) The President and General Secretary of each District Executive Committee;

5) Ten women members from each District and Metropolitan nominated by the Executive Committee of each District and Metropolitan;

6) Members of the Parliamentary Party

7) Officers and members of the National Executive Committee;

8) Members of the Chairman’s Advisory Council;

9) Members of the National Standing Committee and

10) 100 of the total number of members from 1 to 9 mentioned above.

Duties and powers of the National Council

1) To implement and carry out the party’s policies and programs as stated in the party’s constitution and based on it, determined and introduced by the National Standing Committee.

2) To hold elections for members of the National Standing Committee of the party and officers and members of the National Executive Committee.

3) To amend the party’s constitution.

4) To consider any matter referred to by the party chairman.

5) To consider the report of the Secretary General.

6) To consider other important matters proposed by 1/3 (one-third) of the members of the National Council.

National Standing Committee

The chairman, vice chairman and general secretary of the party shall be considered elected members of the National Standing Committee. Including them, the number of members of the National Standing Committee shall be 21. The chairman shall be the head of the committee and he shall call the meetings of the standing committee. The members of the National Standing Committee shall be ex officio members of the National Council. The National Standing Committee shall perform the following duties:

a) As the main policy-making body of the party, this committee shall formulate and introduce the party’s policies and programs.

b) The Committee shall have the power to take disciplinary action against all other levels of party officials and members, except for the removal of the Chairman of the Committee, and to review the disciplinary action taken.

c) This Committee shall interpret the manifesto, constitution, rules, bye-laws and articles of the party in a proper and consistent manner as required and such interpretation shall be considered final.

d) The Committee shall pay special attention to ensuring that the members of the party show due respect and comply with the manifesto, constitution, articles and sub-articles, rules and bye-laws of the party.

e) This Committee shall approve important booklets and other publications of the party.

National Executive Committee

The number of members of the National Executive Committee shall be 111. However, in special cases, the Chairman of the Party may change the number of officers or members, but the total number of members shall not be increased by more than ten percent. In addition, the President of each District Executive Committee and the President of each Metropolitan Executive Committee shall be considered as members of the National Executive Committee ex officio.

National Executive Committee

• Chairman (1 person)
• Vice Chairman (2 people)
• Secretary General (1 person)
• Joint Secretary General (2 people)
• Organizing Secretary (1 person)
• Joint Organizing Secretary (1 person)
• Treasurer (1 person)
• Deputy Treasurer (1 person)
• Deputy Secretary (1 person)

Duty and Responsibilities of the National Executive Committee

a) To supervise and coordinate the activities of the committees at various levels of the party.

b) To recommend necessary disciplinary action against the committee officials/members.

c) To implement the party’s program and to accept proposals and give instructions for that purpose. d) To resolve conflicts within the committee on questions of legitimacy.

e) To supervise, control and coordinate the activities of party organs and associate organizations.

f) To perform other duties and responsibilities as directed by the National Standing Committee. The National Executive Committee meeting shall be held at least once every six months, but may be called at any time with the permission of the Chairman if necessary. The extended meeting of the National Executive Committee shall be held at least once every year except the year in which the National Council is held.

Party Conference:

The highest decision-making body of the BSDP shall be the Party Conference, which shall be held every three years, in which every member shall have the right to participate and vote.

Advisory Council

There shall be an Advisory Council to provide various special advice to the Chairman. The members of the Advisory Council shall be nominated by the Chairman.

Thematic Sub-Committees

The Chairman of the party may, if necessary, nominate various issue-based committees consisting of a few members from among the members of the National Council, in consideration of important national issues. Such committees may be formed on, among other matters: Finance and Planning, Public Health and Family Welfare, Education and Training, Research, International Relations, Defence, Industry and Commerce, Women and Children, Science and Information Technology, Law and Order, Local Government and Rural Development, Environment and Climate Change, Youth Development, Labour and Expatriate Welfare, Communication and Public Transport, Energy and Mineral Resources, Human Rights, Relief and Disaster Management, Water Resources Development and Flood Control, Liberation War, Microfinance, Sports and Culture, Good Governance and Public Administration, Human Resource Development, Media, National Integration and Ethnic Minorities. All these committees may include persons who are not members of the party but have skills, qualifications and expertise in particular fields.

Parliamentary Board

The party shall have a Parliamentary Board for the nomination of party candidates for the National Assembly Election or any other election. The National Standing Committee of the party shall be the Parliamentary Board. However, the President and General Secretary of the district in which the meeting of the Parliamentary Board is called for the nomination of candidates shall be considered as members of the Parliamentary Board at that meeting. However, if a member is a candidate in the election, he/she will not be able to participate in the board meeting in consideration of the candidate of his/her constituency. The chairman of the parliamentary board will be the chairman of the party. The responsibility of nominating party candidates for the National Assembly election or any election will be the responsibility of the parliamentary board and the decision of the board in this regard will be considered final. However, the parliamentary board will nominate the final candidate from the candidate panel formed by the ward, union, upazila/than or district committee (if any) of the concerned constituency.

Organizations Abroad

Among the Bangladeshis living abroad who believe in the principles, ideals, objectives and goals of the Bangladesh Social Democratic Party, they can establish/manage organizations under the prevailing laws of the country where they are permanently or temporarily residing.

Special Assistant to the Chairman

The Chairman may appoint special assistants as needed to assist him in conducting party activities. He shall determine the number of his special assistants and their organizational status in the party.

Chairman

A chairman shall be the chief officer of the party. No person below the age of 35 shall be the chairman of the party.

a) Election of Chairman

The chairman of the party shall be elected for a term of 3 years by a simple majority vote of the members of the National Council. At the end of the term, the same person may be reelected to the post of chairman. However, the chairperson of the party shall not serve more than two terms – nor shall the government elect or appoint him to any major and important position. The chairman elected by the council shall be deemed to have been elected as the chairman of the national executive committee and the chairman of the national standing committee of the party. He shall continue to hold the post of chairman until the next chairman is elected and assumes office according to the party constitution. The election of the Vice Chairman of the party will also be held simultaneously with the election of the Chairman. The party will elect 2 Vice Chairmans – one female and one male. The Vice Chairman will be elected for a term of 3 (three) years. He will continue to hold the post of Vice Chairman until the next Vice Chairman is elected and assumes office as per the party constitution.

b) Duties, powers and responsibilities of the Chairman

1) As the chief officer of the party, the Chairman shall control, supervise and coordinate all the activities of the party and for that purpose shall have authority over the National Council, National Standing Committee, National Executive Committee, Subject Committees and other committees nominated by the Chairman. The Chairman shall control, supervise and coordinate their activities.

2) The Chairman may also take disciplinary action against the members of the above committees if necessary.

3) As the Chairman of the National Executive Committee, he shall determine the duties, powers and responsibilities of the officers of the said committees.

4) The Chairman may dissolve the National Executive Committee, National Standing Committee, Subject Sub-Committees and other committees nominated by the Chairman and may reconstitute them subject to the approval of the next Council.

5) The Chairman shall preside over the meetings of the National Council, the National Executive Committee and the National Standing Committee, but may delegate this power to other members if necessary.

6) The Chairman may fill vacancies in the National Standing Committee and the National Executive Committee and thematic sub-committees.

c) Duties, powers and responsibilities of the Vice Chairman

1) The two Vice Chairmans shall assist the Chairman in the discharge of his duties and shall perform the duties assigned by the Chairman.

2) In the temporary absence of the Chairman, the senior among the two Vice Chairmans shall perform all the duties of the Chairman as the Acting Chairman of the party.

3) If the post of Chairman becomes vacant for any reason, the Vice Chairman shall assume the duties of the Chairman for the remaining term of the Chairman and shall continue to perform the duties of the Chairman until the next Chairman is elected and shall perform his duties in accordance with the Constitution.

d) Removal of the Chairman

The Chairman may be removed by a three-fourths vote of the total number of members of the National Assembly. However, the removal of the Chairman on the said demand of the National Assembly shall be shown as the sole business of the meeting and the reason for the removal shall be clearly stated.

Meetings, Notices, Quorum

a) National Council

The General Secretary of the party may, on the written advice of the Chairman of the party, call a meeting of the National Council. 1/3 (one-third) of the total number of members of the Council shall constitute a quorum for a meeting of the Council. The National Council shall be held at least once a year, if possible, by giving 15 days’ notice in writing by ordinary post or by peon or newspaper or by e-mail. Similarly, an emergency meeting of the Council may be held with a clear 5 days’ notice. A “demand meeting” of the Council may be held with a similar clear 15 days’ notice on the demand of 1/3 (one-third) of the total number of members of the National Council. However, the notice of such meeting shall clearly state the subject matter of the demand.

If 2/3 (two-thirds) of the total number of councillors do not vote in favour of the demand at such a meeting, the demand shall be deemed to be void.

b) National Standing Committee

The Chairman of the party may call a meeting of the National Standing Committee at any time as he may wish. However, the meeting of the Standing Committee shall be held at least once in three months. The quorum for this meeting shall be 50% of the present members.

c) National Executive Committee

The General Secretary of the party may, on the written advice of the Chairman of the party, call a meeting of the National Executive Committee. 1/3 (one-third) of the total number of members of the National Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum for the meeting of the said committee. A meeting of the National Executive Committee may be called in writing by ordinary post or by hand delivery or by newspaper or by e-mail with a clear notice of 7 days, but for an emergency meeting, a notice of 48 hours shall be sufficient. A meeting of the National Executive Committee may be called on the demand of 1/3 (one-third) of the members and with the above 7 days’ notice and if the Secretary General of the committee does not call the meeting, the President of the Committee concerned. They shall advise the concerned committee and participate in party meetings, programmes and activities.

Funds

The Treasurer of the party shall collect and maintain the accounts of the organization. The account of the organization shall be opened in a commercial bank and the funds may be managed under the signature of any two of the three, the Chairman/President, Treasurer and Secretary General/General Secretary, but the signature of the Chairman shall be required. If the Treasurer is unable to discharge his duties due to any unavoidable reason or in his absence, the Deputy Treasurer shall perform all the duties. The accounts of the party shall be audited every year and the audit report shall be published within six months of the end of the financial year. The party funds shall be collected from membership fees, subscriptions, donations, money received during the sale of nomination forms and receipt of nomination papers and from other lawful means.

Rules and Bye-Laws

In cases where there is no specific provision in the Constitution, the National Standing Committee may formulate rules and bye-laws.

Amendment of the Constitution

The rules for amending the Constitution shall be as follows: Any member of the National Council may propose an amendment to the Constitution in writing. The said proposal shall be forwarded to the Secretary General of the Party, so that the Secretary General may present the proposal at the next meeting of the National Council, provided that

a) The proposed amendment shall be presented to all members present at the meeting where it is to be considered and, if possible, copies of the proposed amendment shall be distributed among them. For the amendment to be adopted, two-thirds of the total number of councillors shall vote in favour of the proposal.

b) If any amendment is necessary for urgent reasons, the Chairman of the Party may amend the Constitution, but the said amendment shall be adopted by the majority referred to in ‘a’ at the next meeting of the National Council.

Affiliated Organizations

A party may have one or more affiliate organizations. All such affiliate organizations shall have their own manifesto, constitution, flag and office and all such affiliate organizations shall be under the discipline of the parent party. The party chairman may at any time take disciplinary action against the officers or members of the organization for breach of discipline or for activities or misconduct contrary to the organization and may expel him from the organization or temporarily suspend or reprimand him from membership.

Affiliated organizations

Among the people engaged in various classes and professions who believe in the principles, ideals, objectives and programs of the Bangladesh Social Democratic Party, they can organize to protect the interests of their respective classes and professions and with the approval of the party chairman, these organizations will be considered as the associate organizations of the party

Training Center, Research Center and Media Wing

A research center will be established in the office of the party chairman to provide political training to the party leaders and workers, a research center to increase the overall capacity of the party and a media wing to strengthen and develop the party’s propaganda activities. All the activities of the party will be publicized in the country and abroad through electronic and social media.

The Party Chairman himself or through his designated representative shall direct, supervise and control the activities of these specialized institutions.

Dissolution

The BSDP may be dissolved by a resolution supported by three-fourths of the Party Conference. In such a case, any remaining assets shall be donated to organizations consistent with the Party’s policies.

Acceptance

This Constitution shall be adopted by a majority vote of the founding members of the Bangladesh Social Democratic Party at the inaugural conference. We, the members of the Bangladesh Social Democratic Party, affirm our commitment to social democracy and strive for a more just, equitable and prosperous Bangladesh for all. Together, we dedicate ourselves to building a society that reflects these ideals and empowers every citizen to participate.

Dhaka, 10 January 2025