Dhaka: National Consensus Commission Vice-Chairman Professor Ali Riaz announced today that nearly three-fourths of political parties and alliances have consented to the proposal that the individual serving as prime minister will not concurrently hold the position of party chief. This announcement came during a briefing with journalists following the 17th day of the commission's second phase of discussions with political parties held at the Foreign Service Academy.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, commission members, including Justice Md. Emdadul Haque, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Dr. Badiul Alam Majumder, Safar Raj Hossain, Dr. Md. Ayub Mia, and Chief Adviser's Special Assistant Manir Haidar, were present during the briefing. Professor Riaz noted that while a majority of parties have aligned with the proposal, some parties and alliances have expressed dissent. These dissenting parties will have the opportunity to record a 'note of dissent' in the national charter.
Professor Riaz further revealed that all political parties have reached an agreement on re-establishing the caretaker government, with some progress being made in today's discussions regarding this matter. He mentioned that following a meeting on July 20, which involved political parties and was initiated by the Election Commission, a revised proposal was sent to all parties to reorganize the caretaker government system.
He stated that in response to the proposal, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has agreed in principle with most of the commission's recommendations and has submitted their feedback. Despite detailed discussions on various aspects of the proposal, no consensus has been achieved on the 'ranked choice' voting method yet. Professor Riaz expressed optimism that further discussions scheduled for Thursday could lead to a resolution.
Today's discussions included representatives from 30 political parties, such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP), Gana Adhikar Parishad, Gana Sanghati, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Revolutionary Workers Party, and Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party. The commission announced that another meeting is planned for tomorrow morning to address the outstanding unresolved issues.