News Flash
DHAKA, July 29, 2025 (BSS) — The National Consensus Commission will formally circulate the full list of preliminary-phase consensus items to political parties tomorrow, its Vice President Professor Ali Riaz said today.
“From March through May, extensive discussions with political parties led to agreement on numerous points while several of those items have re-emerged in later talks. Tomorrow we’ll deliver a comprehensive list of issues that garnered consensus during the initial phase,” he said.
He came up with this update while briefing journalists following the 21st day of the second-phase discussions held at the Doel Hall of the Foreign Service Academy, said a press release.
Commission members Justice Md. Emdadul Haque, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Dr. Badiul Alam Majumdar, Safar Raj Hossain, and Dr. Md. Aiyub Miah and Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Monir Haidar were present.
Referring to the progress made on parliamentary representation of women, Professor Ali Riaz noted that nearly all political parties agreed to increase the number of seats for women in the National Parliament to 100.
While there hasn’t been a unified opinion on the election procedure for these seats, he said, the existing 50 reserved seats will remain unchanged.
“We have largely reached a consensus on how women's representation can be gradually increased,” he said, expressing hope that a written statement from the Commission on this matter, to be issued tomorrow, would be acceptable.
Additional topics discussed today included the provision for a non-partisan caretaker government, the appointment of the Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Ombudsman.
Professor Riaz explained that the Commission submitted a revised and consolidated proposal regarding the caretaker government system in response to the political party suggestions.
He said that the Commission’s proposed five-member selection committee was accepted without objections. However, debate continues around the use of rank-choice voting, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and several other parties expressing differing views, he added.
He continued that the Commission will deliberate further before making a final decision.
Representatives from 30 political parties, including: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ganosanghati Andolon, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Biplobi Workers Party, and Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party took part at the discussion.
