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Published : 25 Jun 2025, 01:53 PM
The National Consensus Commission is holding discussions with political parties to reach an agreement on five issues, including the fundamental principles of the state and the structure of the National Constitutional Council (NCC).
The sixth day of the second round of the panel’s discussions got under way at the Foreign Service Academy on Dhaka’s Bailey Road at 11:30am on Wednesday.
At the start of the dialogue, Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor (Consensus) Monir Haider said that today the commission will discuss the fundamental principles of the state, a possible bicameral parliament (with an election system for an upper house), the structure of the National Constitutional Council (NCC), the presidential election process and women's representation.
Consensus Commission Vice-Chairman Ali Riaz is presiding over the meeting.
He said the panel is at the discussion table to address all unresolved issues and hopes that, if possible, a consensus can be reached on these issues, allowing other topics to be added to the discussion.
Commission members Badiul Alam Majumder, Aiyur Mia, Safar Raj Hossain, and retired justices Emdadul Haque and Iftekharruzzaman joined the discussions.
Representatives of 30 political parties are also present at the meeting.
Riaz said, "We are at the very end of our progress in the Consensus Commission’s discussions. There has been much progress in discussions. Despite the differences of opinion, we are proceeding with talks. One positive aspect of this is that at different times, you have all been providing various suggestions to advance this formal and informal process."
"We have not reached here after a day’s struggle, but instead at the cost of many lives. We can sit here now, at this stage, after a continuous struggle that lasted 16 years, as part of a broader effort to establish a democratic system for 53 years, and the struggle to establish an accountable state. As a result, we will consider how we can move forward together, keeping the interests of the state and the interests of the nation in mind."
Regarding concessions by political parties to settle on unresolved issues, the panel chief said: “I have repeatedly stated that you have to make some concessions. We, on behalf of the Consensus Commission, are also discussing among ourselves that through changes and amendments in some places, we can reach our future goal or national consensus.”
“Everyone is sincerely seeking reforms, everyone wants an accountable state, everyone has talked about a democratic state system, I hope we can reach that place.”
The reports of the six reform committees formed in October last year after the political changeover were submitted in February. The National Consensus Commission was formed on Feb 15 to establish consensus on the recommendations of these reports.
They sought the opinions of 38 political parties and alliances on the 166 recommendations of the Constitutional Reform Commission, the Electoral Reform Commission, the Judiciary Reform Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission Reform Commission, and the Public Administration Reform Commission. Of these parties, 33 presented their opinions.
Then, the Consensus Commission completed the first phase of dialogue, lasting 45 sessions, with them from Mar 20 to May 19.
Meetings with some parties were held over several days to facilitate the discussions. The commission said that consensus and partial consensus have been established with the political parties on several issues through the discussions.
The Consensus Commission met with political parties on Jun 2 to launch the second phase of discussions after the first phase ended before Eid al-Azha. Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus was present at the meeting.
Since then, the panel has met six times to hash out a consensus on a number of issues tied to the structure of the state.
