2nd round of talks: Final reform proposals to reflect political parties' opinions, says Ali Riaz

Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission, Professor Ali Riaz, has said that the reform proposals prepared by various commissions are not final. Instead, the upcoming National Charter (July Charter) will be shaped based on the views and feedback provided by political parties.

He said this during the second phase of the second round of talks between National Consensus Commission and political parties.

Discussions with leaders of at least 30 parties began at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital at 11am today (3 June).

"We want to identify certain areas where all political parties can at least reach a minimum level of consensus, and those points can be preserved. That is the main objective of this dialogue," said Professor Ali Riaz.

"Only the proposals that receive unanimous consent will be included in the National Charter," he added. 

Ali Riaz further stated, "There may be issues where agreement is possible. However, each party will maintain its own stance, political manifesto, and intentions. If any party wants to add something extra, they will have the opportunity to express those views."

"In the National Charter, we only want to include those proposals that receive your consent. Instead of holding separate discussions with each party, we have chosen a collective dialogue approach so that positions may change through mutual reasoning and analysis. With that in mind, we aim to develop a framework," he continued.

"Even if agreement cannot be reached on every issue, we must draw some conclusions - especially considering the constraints of time. Our goal is to finalise the National Charter by July," he said. 

"We will have to decide which proposals to include and which to exclude. Those that are not included will also be mentioned under the note, 'Discussed but no consensus was reached,'" he added. 

Earlier, Chief Adviser and Consensus Commission Head Muhammad Yunus inaugurated the discussions yesterday (2 June).

Today, the topics of discussion include Article 70 of the Constitution, the caretaker government system, the election for the women's seats in the lower house of parliament, and the process of forming a parliamentary standing committee among political parties.

Paban Chowdhury, public relations officer of the Consensus Commission, said the discussions will continue till 6pm, which will be broadcast live on the state television BTV News.

Participating in the discussion are the Liberal Democratic Party-LDP, Khilafat Majlis, State Reform Movement, Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party), Nagorik Oikya, Bangladesh National Socialist Party (JSD), Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM), Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), National Citizen Party (NCP), Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Gono Samhati Andolan, People's Rights Council (GOP), Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, Nationalist Like-Minded Alliance, 12-Party Alliance, Islamic Movement Bangladesh, Gono Forum, Communist Party of Bangladesh-CPB, Socialist Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Labour Party, Zaker Party, National Gono Front, Amjantar Dal, Bhashani Anusari Parishad/Bhashani Jonoshakti Party, Bangladesh Nejame Islam Party, Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist), Jamiat-e Ulama-e Islam Bangladesh, Islamic Unity Alliance.