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Published : 31 Jul 2025, 08:31 PM
The National Consensus Commission has decided to establish a 100-seat upper house of parliament based on proportional representation (PR), where seats will be allocated according to the share of votes each party secures in the lower house election.
On Thursday, the decision came after a prolonged disagreement among political parties over the upper house’s formation.
With no consensus reached, the matter was left to the commission’s discretion in the 23rd session of reform dialogues.
Under the commission’s proposal, the upper house will have no independent legislative authority. Except for money bills, all proposed laws must pass through both chambers.
If the upper house fails to act within one month, a bill will be considered approved. If rejected, it will return to the lower house with suggested amendments, which the lower house may accept or reject partially or fully.
The BNP and its allies, including the 12-Party Alliance, NDM, and LDP, have opposed the PR model. They argue upper house seats should be distributed based on lower house results and also object to its powers.
Meanwhile, leftist parties such as the CPB, BSD, and Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam reject the idea of an upper house altogether, citing the current economic and social context.
The Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizen Party (NCP) have backed the commission’s PR proposal. NCP’s Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain urged an immediate and clear implementation mechanism and rejected the commission’s proposed timeline as vague.
Hossain stressed that a PR-based upper house would promote multiparty democracy.
“Even parties with just one percent of votes should get one seat. This would ensure wider political inclusion and allow for more robust debate before laws are passed,” he said.
He also called for a constitutional amendment process requiring a two-thirds majority in the upper house to prevent unilateral changes by major parties.
The commission’s proposal stems from a broader reform plan led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, which includes expanding the unicameral parliament to a bicameral system with 400 lower house seats -- 100 reserved for women by direct vote -- and 105 in the upper house elected under PR, totalling 505 seats.
Akhtar said the PR model would lead to “policy-driven, not conflict-driven politics”, arguing that if implemented, it would enhance democratic culture and reduce confrontational governance.
