BNP finally agrees to 10-year tenure as PM in one’s lifetime

Big-stakeholder BNP finally agrees to a proposal that none should hold the post of Prime Minister for more than 10 years in his/her lifetime, as a measure of preventing recurrence of authoritarianism.

“BNP agrees that the prime minister tenure should be limited to a maximum of 10 years over a lifetime,” BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told the press Tuesday after political parties’ latest meeting with the National Consensus Commission formed in the transition process following the July mass upsurge.

The commission is wrapping up series of cacophonous consultations for crafting July uprising charter within the next month of July on agreed points regarding the future governance of Bangladesh.

Briefing reporters after the meeting with the Consensus Commission at the Foreign Service academy in Dhaka, the BNP leader, however, said the party “does not agree” on the formation of National Constitutional Council (NCC) in view of its possible obtrusive impact on the executive.

“This creates an opportunity to reduce the power of the executive branch. Therefore, if something like this is done, we will not be able to accept that proposal,” he continued.

Meanwhile, the Consensus Commission revised its proposal for NCC by prioritising the views of political parties, Vice Chairman of the commission Prof Ali Riaz said at the briefing on the sixth day's meeting in the second-round talks.

Instead, the commission made a modified proposal for establishing a “Constitutional and Statutory Institutions Appointment Committee”, Ali Riaz said.

Changes have also been made to the structure of the newly proposed committee. This committee will only handle the appointment activities of constitutional and statutory institutions. The appointment of the Attorney-General and the heads of three services will not be under this body’s purview.

He said since no final decision had been reached yet on the appointment process of the constitutional and statutory institutions, no final decision could be reached on the term of Prime Minister.

Ali Riaz said the basic principles of state governance and the term of Prime Minister were also discussed in Tuesday's dialogue. Some parties expressed their opinion on keeping the existing basic principles of state governance intact, while some parties expressed their disagreement.

“Therefore, there is no consensus on this issue,” he said.

However, most parties have support for these five issues: equality and human dignity, social justice, democracy, religious freedom and harmony, and impartiality.

In his introductory speech to the political parties at the beginning of discussion, Prof Riaz said, “On behalf of the Consensus Commission, we are discussing among ourselves and are also discussing with you. Through this continuous discussion, we will be able to reach the desired goal, that is, a national charter, through changes, extensions, amendments and additions to various issues.”

Representatives of 30 political parties, including the BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP), participated in the discussion.

The next discussion of the Consensus Commission with the political parties has been scheduled for next Sunday.

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