Power of individuals must be limited in governance: Ali Riaz

National Consensus Commission Vice Chairman Professor Ali Riaz has said the power of individuals must be limited, as individual dominance has emerged in the country's system of governance.

Watch: Consensus Commission meeting

"The power of the individual needs to be limited precisely because, in the end, individualism emerged in governance. We cannot dismiss this concern," he said while presiding over the seventh day of the commission's second-round talks with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka today (29 June).

Professor Ali Riaz said, "In the last 53 years, many have considered constitutional amendments a child's play. For this, it must be constitutionally ensured that the constitution cannot be amended against the aspirations of the people."

Today's discussions focused on the formation of appointment committees for constitutional and statutory institutions, the concept of a bicameral parliament, the election process for the upper house, and its responsibilities and role.

Addressing the political parties at the beginning of the session, Professor Ali Riaz said, "The commission is not your opponent, but a part of you. It is simply carrying out its responsibilities. July is just a day away, and we must conclude this process within that timeframe."

He added, "Today, I hope we can wrap up discussions on the National Constitutional Council's amendment proposal regarding appointment committees for constitutional and statutory institutions. At the same time, we will address the structure and functions of the upper house."

Munir Haider, special assistant to the chief adviser, stated, "No new topics have been added today. We will continue discussions on unresolved issues from earlier sessions."

Islami Andolan Bangladesh has previously demanded that the discussion include holding elections to the lower house through the Proportional Representation method.

So far, the Commission has taken formal decisions on only two issues across 53 sessions.

One such decision is that Members of Parliament (MPs) may vote against their party line, except on money bills and confidence motions, under a proposed reform of Article 70 of the Constitution.

However, the BNP has issued a note of dissent, stating that if it comes to power, it would expand the exceptions to include constitutional amendments and matters of national security, such as war situations.

The commission has also decided that the chairs of four parliamentary standing committees, Public Accounts, Privileges, Estimates, and Public Undertakings, should be from the opposition.

However, several parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP), have demanded that more committee chairs be allocated proportionally based on the opposition's share of parliamentary seats.

There is general agreement among political parties on establishing an upper house of parliament and increasing the number of reserved seats for women, though consensus has not yet been reached on the method of electing the upper house.

Similarly, while most parties agree in principle on forming a National Constitutional Council, revising the presidential election process, and changing the method of appointing the chief justice, full consensus remains pending due to differing positions among a few parties.