Apprehension over political parties’ agreement on reforms

The National Consensus Commission (NCC) failed to reach any consensus with political parties about the system of appointment in constitutional posts despite discussion on the issue in three phases. Moreover, political parties are yet to reach any consensus on most of the fundamental reform issues.

Professor Ali Riaz, Co-chair of the national consensus commission has said that the progress of discussions with political parties has not been encouraging.

Ali Riaz made the remark while speaking at the start of the seventh day of the second phase of talks between the national consensus commission and the political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital Sunday.

"We have imagined that we would all sign the July Charter together on the anniversary Abu Sayeed’s martyrdom (16 July). But how far that will be possible, depends on the political parties. We are somewhat apprehensive about reaching that point," Ali Riaz said during his opening remark.

The commission has been holding topic-based discussion in the second phase. A total of 20 proposals of fundamental reform were scheduled to be discussed in this phase. By now, discussions were held on nine proposals in seven days and consensus has been reached on only two points. Partial consensus has been reached in some areas. However, no issue has yet been excluded from the discussion table.

The nine proposals discussed so far include: amending Article 70 of the Constitution, appointing opposition members as chairs of parliamentary committees, holding direct elections for 100 women’s seats, establishing a bicameral parliament, the process of appointing the Chief Justice, forming a National Constitutional Council (NCC), electing the President, setting a term limit for the Prime Minister (how long one individual can serve as Prime Minister), and the state principles in the Constitution. Among these, a new proposal was introduced to form a “Committee for Appointments in Constitutional and Statutory Institutions” instead of the NCC.

Among these nine proposals, consensus has been reached on amending Article 70 and appointing parliamentary committee chairs proportionate to opposition seats. There is broad agreement on limiting an individual’s tenure as Prime Minister to a maximum of 10 years, although no final decision has been made. The BNP has stated that they will agree to a Prime Minister’s term limit if the provision to form an NCC or similar body is excluded from the Constitution.

In addition, discussions have not yet started on matters such as constituency delimitation, the outline of a caretaker government, procedures for constitutional amendments, declaration of emergency, women’s representation in local government, election procedures for the upper house, and formation of district coordination councils.

The interim government formed commissions on constitutional reform, electoral system, judiciary, anti-corruption commission, public administration, and police reform in last October. These commissions submitted full reports in February. Later, to build consensus, the National Consensus Commission was launched under the Chief Adviser, bringing together the heads of the six commissions to gather opinions of political parties on 166 key reform recommendations. Discussions with political parties began on 20 March and continued until 19 May. On 2 June, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus inaugurated the second phase of talks.

During discussions with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy yesterday, Akhtar Hossain, Member Secretary of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP), expressed concern about how much consensus would be reached on the fundamental reform proposals.  

He said BNP and several other parties have been expressing disagreement on the issues presented as the basis for fundamental reform. It is worrisome that these issues remain unresolved after hours of discussion.

After the discussion on the appointment committee, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher told journalists that issue of appointment committee has been discussed before but reaching consensus seems almost impossible. The BNP opposed this proposal.

At the end of yesterday’s session, NCP Joint Convenor Javed Rasin said, three hours of dialogue that starts at 11:00am stalls when BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed gets the floor. Even in the afternoon, after nearly two more hours of discussion, the talks hit a dead end at certain place.

“I propose to the national consensus commission please first share the proposals with Salahuddin Bhai or the BNP. Bring to the table only what they agree on, so we can discuss that,” he added.

Last week, Nurul Haque, President of the Gono Odhikar Parishad, told journalists, “Some parties here are completely inflexible in their positions. I don’t see the possibility of consensus if this continues.”

Salahuddin Ahmed said yesterday that the BNP is agreeing on many points. He asked journalists, “If we’re required to agree 100 per cent on every proposal of the national consensus commission, why were we invited for discussions at all?”

He added that the National Charter should only include matters where parties have reached consensus.

“If we’re forced to agree on everything, that’s not right,” he added.

No consensus on appointment committee and upper house
Discussions yesterday covered the appointment committee for constitutional bodies and the process for forming the upper house of parliament. The commission presented a detailed proposal on the appointment committee. Most parties agreed in principle, but the BNP and some others did not.

On the bicameral parliament, most parties including the BNP supported the idea. However, disagreement remained over the election process and jurisdictions of the upper house. The commission proposed that seats in the upper house be allocated proportionate to number of votes received in lower house elections. Jamaat, NCP, and most parties supported this, but the BNP and some others opposed it. They favored seat allocation based on seats won in the lower house.

Salahuddin Ahmed argued that constitutional provisions that diminish the authority of the executive should not be added. He said this repeatedly and called for a clear process for building consensus.

Mahmudur Rahman Manna of Nagorik Oikya said that if the upper house is formed based on vote share in the lower house, it will just be a replica. We’re not suggesting proportional representation in the lower house at this time, but we do need it in the upper house.

NCP’s Akhtar Hosen said that a Bangladesh with balance of power, decentralisation, and accountability was envisioned a year ago. If constitutional bodies are controlled by the Prime Minister, all these discussions and sacrifices are meaningless.

Ashraf Ali Akon of Islami Andolan Bangladesh said that the lower house is fundamental. His party has proposed proportional representation in lower house elections too, as have many other parties. But confusion has created as this proposal hasn’t come up in discussions.

After the session, Ali Riaz told journalists that most parties welcomed the appointment committee proposal, and those still opposed have been requested to reconsider after some amendments. The commission hopes to resolve the issue in the next round.

Ali Riaz added that most parties favor a bicameral parliament, though views differ on the upper house election method.

“We aim to conclude talks and announce July Charter by July,” he added.

The next discussion is scheduled for 2 July.

Commission members Justice Md Emdadul Haque, Badiul Alam Majumdar, and Md Ayub Mia were present at the discussion that was moderated by the Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Monir Haider.