If election not held in Feb, national security to be disrupted: Ali Riaz

National Consensus Commission vice chairman professor Ali Riaz has said that if the national election is not held in the coming February, it will not only lead to internal instability in Bangladesh but also disrupt national security.

However, he also added, “If there is no consensus on the structural changes needed in the state, I fear that the outcome of the election will not bring about any fundamental change.”

Ali Riaz made these remarks on Saturday afternoon while participating in a roundtable discussion at the Prothom Alo office in Karwan Bazar of Dhaka.
Prothom Alo organised the event titled 'Path to political consensus for the election'.

During the meeting, the Vice Chairman of the Consensus Commission said: "I have repeatedly called on the political parties. They have responded to a considerable extent, but at some point, the process must come to an end—it cannot go on indefinitely. In that case, the election must be held. If the election is not held in February, it will not only lead to internal instability in Bangladesh, but national security will also be disrupted. That is what I believe. Therefore, it is essential for the political parties to address this issue."

Ali Riaz further said: "We are holding the upcoming election because we want to ensure certain structural changes in the state. While working with the reform commission, we observed that the crisis of the past 16 years is not just a 16-year crisis. We have witnessed its severity because a personality-driven authoritarian regime had been established. But structurally, we had already been heading in that direction in various ways."

He added: "Now, if we keep that same structure and make only minimal changes, where will the election take us? Someone will win, one party will come to power, and govern the country—is that all? We want a consolidated democracy. Despite three attempts (in 1973, 1991, and 2009), we have not achieved that. If there is no consensus on the necessary structural changes, I fear that even after another election, we will end up in the same place without any fundamental shift. The struggle against Sheikh Hasina’s personality-driven autocracy and the political unity that emerged afterward has now become fragmented. That fragmentation has led to differences. If it becomes clear through this election what we truly want, then I believe we can move toward that goal."

At the roundtable discussion, Ali Riaz, Vice Chairman of the Consensus Commission, said that the work of the National Consensus Commission began on 15 February. In the initial phase, over 30 political parties in Bangladesh engaged in discussions on issues such as the constitution, system of governance, legal processes, judiciary, public administration, and police.

"During these exchanges, they remained tolerant of each other — to me, that is the most positive aspect," Riaz said.

"I’m usually, even perennially, optimistic. Some people told me to put heavy chairs in the room, otherwise the politicians might start throwing them at each other. But I said — they won’t do that. They want to change the political culture."

Noting that only two days remain in the commission’s current term, Ali Riaz said: "Right now, we have reached consensus on 84 issues. But that doesn’t mean everyone agreed on everything. Among the initial 64 issues where consensus was achieved, there were some minor objections or differing opinions. In the first phase, we did not include any notes of dissent."

"In the next set of 20 issues, we’ve started seeing significant differences on some fundamental matters. Out of those 20, 11 have already been decided. Among them, there is only one issue on which a single party has submitted a note of dissent."

At the event, Professor Ali Riaz also spoke about the Constitution.
He said: "The constitution remains in effect as it currently stands, and we are technically still within its framework — in the sense that this government was formed under Article 106. This is not the commission’s position, but my personal opinion.

If we were fully operating within the constitution, would we be sitting here today having this discussion? Would the National Consensus Commission have been formed? Would 11 reform commissions have been created? Would we be talking about constitutional issues at all? We didn’t before.
So clearly, something has happened that has raised these questions. And we can move forward only if we acknowledge that."

Riaz continued: "To find a way forward, the political parties have proposed six different paths. Our experts have suggested two.

There is no disagreement over solutions that lie outside the constitution — if everyone agrees, those can be implemented through ordinances or executive orders.

The real disagreements lie in the constitutional issues — particularly those that would restrain executive power, establish accountability, and ensure that the system reflects the fundamental aspirations of the people.
The core of that aspiration is this: we don’t want another Sheikh Hasina.
If we take that as the starting point, then we must search for a path that leads us to that goal."

The roundtable discussion began with an introductory speech by Matiur Rahman, editor of Prothom Alo. The session was moderated by Sajjad Sharif, executive editor of Prothom Alo.

Salahuddin Ahmed, Standing Committee Member, BNP, Matiur Rahman Akand, Central Committee Member, Jamaat-e-Islami, Zunayed Saki, Chief Coordinator, Ganosamhati Andolan, Akhtar Hossain, Member Secretary, National Citizen Party (NCP), Hossain Zillur Rahman, Chairperson, BRAC, Debapriya Bhattacharya, Distinguished Fellow, CPD, AK Azad, Managing Director & CEO, Ha-Meem Group, Badiul Alam Majumdar, Member, National Consensus Commission, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Md Mahfuzur Rahman, Chairman, Osmani Centre for Peace and Security, Mahfuz Anam, Editor, The Daily Star and Professor Samina Luthfa, University of Dhaka, among others, were present.