National Consensus Commission begins 2nd round of dialogue

The National Consensus Commission has begun the second round of dialogue with political parties to continue the discussions of reform commission recommendations that remained incomplete in the first round.

The talks started at 11:45am on Tuesday at Dhaka’s Foreign Service Academy.

The commission says there will be discussions with 30 parties, including the BNP, in stages until Thursday.

“It will emphasise consensus on issues of disagreement such as Article 70 of the Constitution, the appointment process of presidents to Standing Committees, women representatives, a bicameral parliament, and the appointment of the chief justice,” it said.

The Consensus Commission met with political parties on Jun 2 as a prelude to the second phase of discussions after the first phase ended before Eid al-Azha. Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus was present at the meeting.

The reports of the six reform committees formed in October last year after the political changeover were submitted in February. The National Consensus Commission was formed on Feb 15 to establish consensus on the recommendations of these reports.

They sought the opinions of 38 political parties and alliances on the 166 recommendations of the Constitutional Reform Commission, the Electoral Reform Commission, the Judiciary Reform Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission Reform Commission, and the Public Administration Reform Commission. Of these parties, 33 presented their opinions. Then, the Consensus Commission completed the first phase of dialogue, lasting 45 sessions, with them from Mar 20 to May 19.

Meetings with some parties were held over several days to facilitate the discussions. The commission said that consensus and partial consensus have been established with the political parties on several issues through the discussions.