Failure of Consensus Commission would be a shared failure: Ali Riaz

If the National Consensus Commission fails, it will be a collective failure for all, Professor Ali Riaz, Vice-Chairman of the Commission, said on Tuesday.

"The Commission is not an independent entity," he stated. "It is made up of all of us—you and me, everyone. So if we fail in any way, the failure is ours collectively. It is not the Commission’s failure alone. If the Commission fails, that failure belongs to all of us."

Ali Riaz made these remarks at the beginning of the 14th day of the second phase of dialogue between the National Consensus Commission and political parties, held today, Tuesday, at the Doel Multipurpose Hall of the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

Addressing the political parties, he said, "The responsibilities entrusted to us are primarily yours as political parties. We are merely partners in this effort."

He urged all political parties to come together at a common point in the discussions.

The Commission Vice-Chairman also emphasised the need to reach decisions in the coming days and made repeated appeals for maximum unity among the parties.

Today’s discussion resumed the topic of a bicameral national parliament, which had remained unfinished in the previous session. It was followed by deliberations on the election procedure for women's reserved seats. A final consensus on both issues was expected to be reached today.

A total of 30 political parties took part in today’s discussion, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Islami Andolan, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), and Ganosamhati Andolan.

The meeting was moderated by Monir Haider, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on National Consensus Commission Affairs, and chaired by the Commission’s vice-chairman, Professor Ali Riaz.

Other commission members present were Safar Raj Hossain, Justice Emdadul Haque, Badiul Alam Majumdar, Iftekharuzzaman, and Mohammad Ayub Miah.