Commission shares draft consensus on appointment of chief adviser with political parties

The National Consensus Commission on Sunday shared the draft consensus with the political parties on the appointment of the chief adviser of the caretaker government and asked for an immediate response with suggestions, if any.

The commission prepared the draft paper based on the agreement of political parties that sat with the commission in long discussions.

The commission on Sunday began discussions on two topics, including the caretaker government system and reforms regarding holding different positions—of prime minister concurrently as the head of the house and head of the political party.

Most parties agreed on the procedure for appointing the chief adviser of the caretaker government, Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission Prof Ali Riaz said this while briefing journalists after the 15th day of the second phase of talks between the political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in the city.

In light of the said discussions, the commission held a meeting and again presented a revised and integrated proposal to the parties, reflecting the opinions of various parties.

The proposal details the procedure for appointing the chief adviser of the caretaker government, and the parties have agreed on most of the issues in this proposal. The commission will review the linguistic and detailed aspects of this draft proposal and take a decision on this issue on Tuesday, in view of the political parties' opinions tomorrow (Monday), he added.

The Consensus Commission started working on February 15 to create a national charter.

Consensus has been established on several important issues through the first and second phases of discussions with political parties, and consensus on some more fundamental issues will be established in the discussions in the remaining days.

He said that if this process continues, it will be possible to create a national charter by July 31.

Stating that there is no disagreement on the establishment of the upper house, the vice-chairman of the commission said that there are two different proposals regarding how the upper house will be formed.

The political parties have expressed their opinion to delegate responsibility to the commission in this regard.

The commission has already held a meeting on the issue of the upper house. Prof Riaz expressed hope that the commission would be able to discuss the issue of the upper house for some more time and take a decision.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and National Citizens Party (NCP), among 30 political parties, sat with the commission on Sunday.

nsrafsanju@gmail.com