Commission to Share Consensus Issues with Parties Tomorrow

National Consensus Commission Vice-Chairman Prof. Dr. Ali Riaz spoke at the Doel Hall of the Foreign Service Academy today.

The National Consensus Commission will formally share the list of consensus issues reached during its initial round of talks with political parties tomorrow, Vice President Professor Ali Riaz said on Tuesday.

“Between March and May, we held extensive discussions with political parties and reached agreement on a number of issues. Some of these have resurfaced in later phases. Tomorrow, we will share a consolidated list of consensus items from the preliminary phase,” he told reporters following the 21st day of the second-phase discussions at Doel Hall of the Foreign Service Academy.

Commission members Justice Md Emdadul Haque, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, Safar Raj Hossain, Dr Md Aiyub Miah, and Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Monir Haidar were also present.

Highlighting progress on women’s representation in parliament, Professor Riaz said nearly all political parties agreed to raise the number of reserved seats for women to 100. Although consensus on the election procedure for these seats remains elusive, the current 50-seat provision will remain in place for now.

“We’ve reached broad consensus on gradually increasing women’s participation, and we hope the Commission’s upcoming written proposal will be widely accepted,” he added.

Other key issues discussed include the non-partisan caretaker government system, the appointment processes for the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Ombudsman.

Professor Riaz noted that the Commission has submitted a revised, consolidated proposal for the caretaker government based on feedback from political parties. A five-member selection committee proposed by the Commission has been accepted without objection. However, rank-choice voting remains a point of contention, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and others expressing differing views.

He said the Commission would continue discussions before finalising its stance on these issues.

Representatives from 30 political parties participated in Tuesday’s meeting, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ganosanghati Andolon, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Biplobi Workers Party, and Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party.