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Published : 15 Jul 2025, 10:40 PM
The National Citizen Party (NCP) has accused the BNP of retreating whenever discussions on fundamental state reforms are brought to the table, particularly on electoral restructuring of the upper house of parliament.
On Tuesday, NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain claimed the BNP pulls away the moment checks and balances come into focus through proportional representation (PR) in upper house polls.
He made the claim after NCP leaders met the National Consensus Commission for reform talks at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Akhtar drew a metaphor comparing the current state with “a broken leg”, accusing the BNP of offering superficial remedies.
“They’ve bandaged it, used antiseptic. But when it comes to setting the bone properly, they back off. Their stance is: this is enough, accept it as it is,” he said.
He made it clear that the NCP sees PR-based elections in the upper house as an “essential element” of state reform and will not compromise on it.
According to him, the introduction of a PR system would allow parties with at least one percent of the national vote to be represented in the upper house -- a mechanism he said would ensure the institutionalisation of true multi-party democracy.
He said most parties are on board with the PR-based seat distribution, but the BNP, along with a few aligned groups, remains opposed.
Akhtar warned that efforts are under way to keep this specific reform out of commission-level discussions.
“There’s now a clear push to turn the reform debate into a numbers game, stripping it of its core political values,” he said.
The NCP leader claimed “the BNP and its allies are blocking consensus every time structural reform is raised, and are actively working to sideline these issues from formal negotiation platforms”.
