No consensus yet on women’s seats, upper house formation: Commission
The National Consensus Commission and political parties remain divided on two key issues: how to elect members to the upper house of the proposed two-chamber parliament and how to ensure women's representation in the lower house.
Bangladesh's current system reserves 50 seats for women proportionally; today's discussions considered expanding to 100 or holding direct elections.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) supported direct elections to reserved seats, while the BNP favoured the existing system.
For the upper house, BNP proposed its formation based on lower house proportions, while the NCP criticised BNP's plan as creating a replica of the lower house.
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Monday's session, which marks the 13th day of the second phase discussion of the commission with parties, saw participation from representatives of 30 political parties, including the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Gono Odhikar Parishad, Gonosanghoti Andolon, CPB, Biplobi Workers Party, and AB Party.
Briefing reporters following the day-long session at the Foreign Service Academy, Professor Ali Riaz, vice-chairman of the commission, said that discussions on these unresolved matters will continue on Tuesday.
Professor Riaz acknowledged that there is broad agreement on the need for a bicameral parliament to reflect the country's diverse society. However, differences persist over how the upper house should be structured.
While the commission has offered two proposals, some political parties have also put forward their own ideas, he said, stressing the need for further discussion.
On the issue of women's representation, Riaz said there was consensus on reserving 100 seats permanently for women in the parliament. However, parties remain divided over how these seats should be allocated.
The current system allocates 50 reserved seats proportionally among parties, and discussions have considered either expanding that number to 100 or introducing direct elections, he continued.
As no agreement was reached on either option, the commission proposed an alternative. This new proposal calls for amending Article 65 of the Constitution to ensure women's representation differently. It recommends that any political party fielding candidates in more than 25 constituencies must nominate at least one-third women, he said.
Prof Riaz also mentioned that other proposals have surfaced during the talks, prompting the commission to continue discussions for further evaluation and consensus-building.
NCP criticises lack of consensus
NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain told reporters after the meeting that his party had supported direct elections to reserved women's seats from the outset. "Some parties disagreed. Even when the commission proposed mandatory one-third women candidates, parties remained unwilling," he said.
On the upper house formation, he said, "Debates on the formation process are weakening the case for an upper house. Some parties seem intent on preserving the old system. If formed based on lower house seats, it would just be a replica — ineffective and unnecessary," he added.
Akhtar emphasised that although most parties support the idea of an upper chamber, a few are blocking progress with unworkable proposals.
BNP backs existing system for women's seats
BNP Standing Committee member Salauddin Ahmed said the party supports the current system for women's reserved seats, as creating 100 new constituencies would be difficult.
"Most parties, including ours, haven't yet met the 33% women candidate target due to social and political realities," he said, adding that the time for direct elections to women's seats is yet to come.
On the upper house issue, he said that while BNP proposed forming it based on lower house proportions, no consensus was reached.
He dismissed concerns about its potential weakness, saying, "It hasn't even been formed yet — why debate its strength?"
The BNP leader also called the commission's proposal to form the upper house based on representatives from 64 districts and 12 city corporations "unrealistic."
Jamaat for PR in upper house, women's seats
Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher emphasised his party's strong support for forming the upper house through proportional representation (PR) based on voter numbers.
"If the commission truly wants fairness, it must adopt PR by voter count," he said, rejecting the commission's proposal to form the upper house based on representatives from 64 districts and 12 city corporations, saying it's not even worth discussing.
Taher claimed that two-thirds of the participating parties back the PR model, adding, "If 31 out of 32 parties are in agreement, shouldn't that be considered consensus?"
On the issue of reserved seats for women, he reiterated support for proportional representation, arguing that direct elections in every three constituencies to elect one woman would be highly impractical.
