BDRunner Sept 11:
Political parties have agreed on two of the four proposals put forward by the National Consensus Commission on how the July National Charter will be implemented, said Ali Riaz, vice-chairman of the commission.
After the Consensus Commission’s discussion with the parties at the Doel Hall of the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Thursday, he said, “Consensus has been established on two issues in today’s discussion with political parties on the method of implementing the charter.
“The interim government can issue ordinances to implement all the issues in the recommendations that are not related to the constitution. The interim government and the relevant authorities can implement the issues in the recommendations that can be implemented through the formulation of orders and rules by the government or relevant authorities.”
Following the fall of the Awami League government in the student uprising on August 5, the interim government took the initiative to reform the state in support of the country’s democratic transition. The 11 reforms, which were developed in two phases, have been submitted to the head of government for review and recommendations.
Among them, the National Consensus Commission held two rounds of dialogue with political parties on 162 recommendations regarding the importance of reforming the constitution, electoral system, judiciary, public administration, and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Among these, the parties reached consensus on 84 issues, including notes of dissent, and the draft of the July Charter has been finalized and given to the parties.
Now, the National Consensus Commission has begun the third phase of meetings with the parties to determine the means of implementing this Charter.
At the beginning of the meeting with 29 political parties today, the commission presented four proposals for implementing the Charter: an ordinance, an executive order, a referendum, and a special constitutional order.
Ali Riaz said, “The government and the relevant authorities have already issued, and the work of implementing it has begun through appropriate steps.”
Although the final draft of the July National Charter was given to the parties, there is still no consensus on the means of implementation.
The Consensus Commission will meet with the parties again on Sunday to bridge the gap and bring them together.
Earlier, the Consensus Commission vice-chairman requested the political parties to send the names of the signatories by Saturday.
He said, “The final commentary of the July National Charter 2025 has been sent to the political parties. The views of everyone have been reflected in this charter.
“The commission has requested the political parties to send the names of two people by 5 pm on September 13 (Saturday) to sign the charter.”
Justice Md. Emdadul Haque, Iftekharuzzaman, Badiul Alam Majumder, Md. Ayub Mia and Monir Haider, special assistants to the chief advisor, were present as members of the commission at the discussion meeting.
Representatives of 29 parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Gana Adhikar Parishad, Gana Sanghati, Biplobi Workers Party, and Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party, are in talks with the National Consensus Commission today.
The commission announced that it will hold another round of talks with political parties next Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
