Consensus commission recommendations deceptive, says Mirza Fakhrul

The consensus committee has deceived the people and its recommendations are acts of fraud with regard to the political parties, Fakhrul says

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has called the recommendations made by the National Consensus Commission on the implementation of the July National Charter “deceptive” and demanded their immediate amendment.

He made the call at a discussion on Thursday, while sharing the party’s reactions to the recommendations made by the National Consensus Commission.

He said, "Our National Consensus Commission has given its recommendations to the chief advisor… it bears the signature of the chief advisor…. he is also the chairman of the commission. Now, what we have noticed is that we had very clearly stated the issues with which we disagreed… we had given a note of dissent there. They (National Consensus Commission) had a commitment to record those notes of dissent."

"But astonishingly, we noticed that when they published it yesterday (Wednesday), those notes of dissent were not there...they were totally ignored. This can’t be a consensus. Then why was the consensus committee formed? I would say that this consensus committee is deceiving the people, these (recommendations) are acts of fraudulence with regard to the political parties, and I believe they need an immediate amendment.”

In this regard, addressing Yunus, who is also the chairman of the National Consensus Commission, the BNP secretary general said: “You have committed to the people that you will give them an election after necessary reforms. Through that election, a parliament will emerge and resolve the problems of the country.

‘‘Today, if there’s a deviation from it, if you leave the charted path to it, you (chief advisor) will have to bear the full responsibility… I want to say this clearly. Therefore, I hope that they (National Consensus Commission) will come to this realisation. And, very soon, you should ensure an election including all the points, those agreed by all political parties and those having notes of dissent. Through that election, we’ll be able to form a parliament of the people. We’ll establish the people’s rule in the country.”

The discussion was held at the National Press Club to mark the publication of a book titled “Judiciary Reform Election: Bangladesh in the Interim Period” written by journalist Ehsan Mahmud.