NCC to decide on appointment of caretaker chief

The National Consensus Commission (NCC) has announced that it will now decide on the appointment of the chief adviser (CA) of the caretaker government as political parties have failed to reach a consensus on the selection process.

"Three-fourths of the political parties agreed to the commission's proposal on reforms to the caretaker government system. However, disagreements remain on certain aspects of the process," NCC Vice-Chairman Prof Ali Riaz told reporters following a day-long dialogue held at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Tuesday.

He said the NCC has submitted a revised and integrated proposal, based on the feedback received from various political parties during consultations on the caretaker government system.

"There is no disagreement on the commission's proposal to form a five-member selection committee. However, the debate continues over whether ranked-choice voting will be used. Some parties, including the BNP, have expressed reservations on this matter," Prof Riaz said.

Notably, ranked-choice voting is a system where voters list candidates in the order they prefer - first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on.

"The Commission will deliberate on this issue further and take a final decision. Initial consensus was reached on several issues during the first phase of discussions, held between March and May," added the NCC vice-chairman.

"Some of these issues have re-emerged during the second round of talks. Nevertheless, a comprehensive list of the agreed-upon matters from the first phase will be shared with political parties on Wednesday."

Prof Riaz also informed that a draft of the proposed national charter has already been sent to all participating parties, who have been asked to submit their observations by Wednesday noon. The NCC hopes to finalise a consensus by July 31.

On the issue of women's representation in the Parliament, Prof Riaz said there is broad agreement among political parties

to increase the number of reserved seats for women to 100. While earlier discussions reflected disagreements on how these seats would be filled, the existing 50 seats will remain unchanged.

"We have made considerable progress toward a phased plan for increasing women's representation. A final written proposal from the commission will be presented on Wednesday," he said.

Tuesday's discussion also covered key institutional appointments, including provisions for a non-partisan caretaker government, the auditor general and controller, and the ombudsman.

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