Consensus not achieved on all fundamental reform proposals

The political parties are yet to reach consensus on all fundamental reform proposals. There are also demands for discussions over the process of implementing the July national charter. As a result, there is doubt as to whether it would be possible to finalise the national charter.

The July charter will be based on the consensus of political parties over the proposals placed by the six commissions formed to reform different sectors of the state. The National Consensus Commission aims to finalise the charter by Thursday. The commission also provided a draft of the charter to political parties last Monday. However, several parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and National Citizen Party (NCP) raised objections over the process of implementing the charter as mentioned in the draft. Both parties officially raised the issue to the commission on Wednesday.

There were seven issues on the agenda of the National Consensus Committee meeting yesterday. They are - 1. Recruitment process of the four constitutional and statutory institutions; 2.Formation of a bicameral parliament, election procedure and powers of the upper house; 3. Women's representation in parliament (increasing the number of reserved seats for women and the election procedure); 4. Procedure for electing the president; 5. Fundamental principles of the state; 6. Expansion of citizens’ fundamental rights in the constitution; and 7. Powers and responsibilities of the president.

Among the fundamental reform proposals, there has been no consensus over the outline of the caretaker government.

Among these issues, although full consensus was not reached, the Consensus Commission announced a decision on women's representation in parliament around 9:00pm yesterday. A concept paper on the president's powers has been shared with the political parties. Apart from these, the commission is expected to announce decisions today on several unresolved issues.

The interim government formed reform commissions on constitution, electoral system, judiciary, Anti-corruption Commission, administration and the police. The commissions submitted reports last February. Later, a national consensus commission was formed under the leadership of chief adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus to reach political consensus on reform proposals.

Following that, the reform commission divided the proposals from the reform commissions into two parts.

Among these, several recommendations that can be implemented through legal reforms or administrative decisions have been identified as 'immediately actionable'. Work is underway to implement those. On the other hand, the Consensus Commission has held discussions with political parties on 166 key recommendations.

In the first phase, the commission sat with 33 parties and alliances separately from 20 March to 19 May. On 3 June, the Consensus Commission began issue-based discussions with all parties on around 20 key reform proposals on which no consensus had been reached. These fundamental reform proposals have been marked as most important. In the second phase, consensus has been reached on 13 issues so far.

Yesterday, a list of agreed issues in the first phase was handed over to the parties. It included 62 topics in total, along with details of how many parties supported each proposal. Most of the agreed issues were recommendations from the Judicial and ACC reform commissions, while six were from the Public Administration Reform Commission.

In addition, the constitution reform commission made 18 recommendations, though some of these issues are still under discussion such as the formation of a bicameral parliament. While 30 parties agreed on the idea in the first phase, there is still no consensus on the formation process.

During a break in the meeting last night, commission members met with the commission's head and chief adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus. Later, Ali Riaz told reporters that they had briefed the chief adviser on the progress, and he had also given some suggestions. Consensus was reached on 14 issues in the second phase of discussions.

The issues on which consensus and decisions were reached in the second phase include: limiting a person’s tenure as prime minister to a maximum of 10 years in their lifetime; amending Article 70 of the Constitution; chairing of parliamentary standing committees; demarcation of electoral constituencies; provisions related to presidential clemency; decentralisation of the High Court and gradual relocation of lower courts to the upazila level; procedure for constitutional amendments; declaration of a state of emergency; appointment of the chief justice; inclusion of the process for forming the Election Commission in the Constitution; formation of a police commission; and restrictions on the prime minister holding multiple offices.

In this regard, it was decided that the same person cannot simultaneously hold the positions of prime minister and party chief—a proposal supported by three-fourths of the parties—as well as the issue of women's representation in parliament. For issues where consensus was not reached, including among parties like the BNP, they will be allowed to register a ‘note of dissent’ in the national charter.

The reform commission proposed to increase the number of reserved women seats in the parliament to 100 from 50 who are to be elected through direct voting. Despite repeated discussions over the matter, no decision has been taken yet in this regard.

Later, the consensus commission proposed to retain the existing system of 50 reserved seats, but the parties will have to field women candidates in at least 5-7 per cent of the 300 constituencies. Despite discussing the matter from noon to evening yesterday, no decision was reached.

Later in the night, the consensus commission declared a decision over the women's seats in the parliament. Vice-president Ali Riaz told the newspersons almost all the parties agreed to raise the number of women seats to 100. However, there is dissent among a few parties over the matter. Some of the parties want direct vote in these constituencies, while some other parties want proportional representation.

Speaking regarding the decisions, Ali Riaz said the existing 50 reserved seats will be retained by making the necessary amendments to the constitution. The political parties are being urged to field women candidates in at least 5 per cent of the constituencies. They will have to field women candidates in at least 10 per cent of the constituencies. This provision will be included in the constitution later.

Political parties will continue to nominate women at a gradually increasing rate of at least 5 per cent in each general election until the target of female candidates in at least 33 per cent of the constituencies is not reached. This provision will also be included in the constitution. The reserved seats for women will remain in place until 2043.

Ali Riaz said the commission the political parties have been given a concept over the president’s jurisdiction and duty. The commission has proposed the president to have power to appoint without the prime minister’s consent in some cases at least. He expressed hope that the issue will be settled through discussion today.

BNP has raised strong objections to the proposal of including the provisions for appointing heads of constitutional and statutory bodies such as the Public Service Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Ombudsman in the constitution. They said this should be done through legal procedure and the relevant provisions should not be included in the constitution.

Although political parties agreed on the formation of bicameral parliament, there is dissent regarding the electoral process in the upper house.  The reform commission proposed for proportional representation which means the number of seats in the upper house will be proportional to the total number of votes bagged by a party across the country.  Most of the political parties, including NCP and Jamaat, agreed to this proposal. However, several other parties, including BNP, opposed it. There is also dissent regarding the jurisdiction of the upper house.

Under this circumstance, the commission was given the task to make a decision in this regard. However, no decision has been declared as of yesterday.

The political parties are also divided in the question of fundamental principles of the state. There has been almost no discussion on the proposal to extend people’s fundamental rights. There have been discussions on the process of electing the president. However, the issue is yet to be settled.

Consensus commission vice president Ali Riaz said they were hoping to handover an integrated and acceptable draft by Thursday.

Addressing the political parties, Ali Riaz said, “One of the important aspects of the responsibility you have entrusted to us is making decisions. We are trying to reach consensus on these issues promptly and hope to inform you by tomorrow.”

Last Monday, the National Consensus Commission handed the political parties a draft of the July National Charter. It stated that the political parties would commit to implementing the reform proposals included in the charter within two years of forming the government through the next national election.

At yesterday’s National Consensus Commission discussion, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said he was surprised and deeply disappointed by the proposed implementation process outlined in the draft of the July Charter. He demanded that the charter be given legal ground and called for a separate discussion on the matter within the commission. He said that without a legal basis, the decisions would be worthless in his view, and all that has been done so far would amount to a waste of time.

When a few other parties attempted to speak on the issue, the Consensus Commission did not grant permission. Professor Ali Riaz said they would discuss the matter with the commission's head and chief adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, before providing a response.

At one point of the discussion last night, NCP member secretary Akhter Hossain talked over the matter again. He said, “We were told about six methods of implementing the reform proposals. It’s a significant discussion.”

However, Ali Riaz said the commission wants to complete the process of charter first. The commission does not want to start discussions regarding the method of implementation right now.