Political parties close to consensus on key reforms: Ali Riaz

Political parties are nearing a consensus on several key reform proposals, including the restoration of the caretaker government, introduction of a bicameral parliament and reservation of 100 seats for women in Parliament.

Vice Chairman of the National Consensus Commission Prof Ali Riaz on Monday revealed the Commission's progress in building consensus over the state reform initiatives at a press briefing at the LD Hall of the Jatiya Sangsad Complex in Dhaka.

 “There is no disagreement among the political parties over the restoration of the caretaker government,” he said.

Prof Ali Riaz said most of the political parties opined against keeping ‘pluralism’ alongside ‘equity, human dignity, social justice and democracy’ as the basic principles of the state in the Constitution.

“Most of the parties have agreed in principle to form a bicameral parliament. However, some parties have given their opinion for maintaining a unicameral parliament,” he said.

But all parties supported a proposal to pick an opposition lawmaker for the post of Deputy Speaker, said the Commission’s vice chairman.

 “There is a sort of consensus among the parties for reserving 100 seats for women in the lower house of the parliament. But there is disagreement over its procedure,” said Prof Ali Riaz.

Consensus commission members Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Justice Emdadul Haque, Safar Raj Hossain and Md Ayub Miah and the Chief Adviser's Special Assistant, Monir Haider, were present.

The Consensus Commission opened a series of talks with political parties on March 20 last to forge a national consensus on state reform initiatives undertaken by the interim government.

The Commission held talks with 33 parties and alliances, including BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizen Party (NCP) before concluding the first round of dialogues on May 19 last.

Formed on February 15, 2025, under the leadership of Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, the Commission was tasked with shaping a unified national stance on critical reforms.