Consensus Commission's 2nd round of talks with political parties resume on 17 June

The National Consensus Commission will restart its second round of the reform dialogue with political parties on Tuesday (17 June) to finalise recommendations and prepare the July Charter.

The talks will begin at 11am in the capital's Foreign Service Academy, said a press release today (15 June).

The unfinished discussion over the Article 70 of the constitution, the chairmanship nomination for parliamentary standing committees and the women representation in parliament will be held.

Besides, two new issues -- the bicameral parliament and the appointment of chief justice -- will be discussed on that day.

The National Consensus Commission will also hold talks on 18 and 19 June, but the agenda for the two days has not been announced yet.

On 2 June, Chief Adviser and Commission Chairman Muhammad Yunus opened the second round of the dialogue and then the commission sat with political parties just for a day (June 03) to discuss three reform issues.

Nearly 30 parties, including BNP, Jamaat, and the National Citizen Party (NCP), joined the 3 June talks presided over by Commission's Vice Chairman Prof Ali Riaz.

Three issues -- the Article 70 of the constitution, the chairmanship nomination for parliamentary standing committees and the women representation in parliament – were widely discussed.

The Consensus Commission started its first round of talks with political parties on March 20 to forge a national consensus on state reform initiatives undertaken by the interim government.

The commission held talks with 33 parties and alliances, including BNP, Jamaat and NCP, before concluding the first round of dialogues on 19 May.

Formed on 15 February, under the leadership of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, the commission was tasked with shaping a unified national stance on critical reforms.