Almost all of the political parties attending the National Consensus Commission dialogue session on Tuesday agreed on a mandatory two-thirds majority support in the parliament for constitutional amendments and on a referendum to amend the constitution鈥檚 articles 8, 48, 56, and 142 and determine the provision for the caretaker government system.聽
However, the 14th session of the second-round dialogue also ended without consensus on the proposed upper house of a bicameral legislature.
Chaired by NCC vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz, 30 political parties attended the session held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Briefing journalists at a post-session press briefing, Ali Riaz said that until the upper chamber of parliament was formed, or in the absence of it, any amendment to the constitution would require a two-thirds majority vote of the lawmakers.
He added that for amending some specific provisions, such as the preamble, the state鈥檚 fundamental principles, the provisions for the president, the prime minister, and the cabinet聽 mentioned in the articles 48 and 56, and the power to amend any provision of the constitution mentioned in the article 142 would require a national referendum.
Moreover, the provisions for a non-partisan caretaker government, mentioned in the articles 58B, 58C, 58D and 58E of the 13th amendment of the constitution, would require a national referendum, if these were reinstated, he said.
Ali Raiz said that the broader agreement was not considered a consensus until the discussion over the parliament鈥檚 upper house reached a conclusion.
During the discussion, Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed proposed a referendum for amending the articles related to the caretaker government.
He said, 鈥楾his obligation is to protect the caretaker government system from arbitrary interferences that happened in 2011.鈥櫬�
Salahuddin argued that beyond court rulings on the 15th amendment that abolished the caretaker government system, the parliament could also restore the system based on public demand.
His proposal was accepted by the majority of the parties, including the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh presidium member Ashraf Ali Akhon, however, opposed the proposed referendum, saying that the previous referendums in the country were manipulated.
Jamaat nayeb-e-amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher recommended that constitutional amendment should require a two-thirds majority in the lower house and a simple majority in the upper house.
He said, 鈥楾he constitution is a document of national interest. No single party should have the power to alter it unilaterally.鈥�
In the first-half of the session, the political parties discussed the composition of the upper house.
The Jamaat, NCP, and some other parties iterated their recommendations for shared votes-based proportional representation to the proposed upper house.
The Jamaat鈥檚 Taher said that the upper house must reflect all parties鈥� electoral strength, not just that of the dominant parties, to ensure a balanced national legislature where smaller voices would also be heard.
NCP member secretary Akhter Hossen said that any party receiving at least 1 per cent of the total votes casted should gain representation in the upper house. He again alleged that the BNP and its allies were resisting the proportional representation model for the upper house and trying to keep the issue off the table.
The BNP鈥檚 Salahuddin, repeating his party stance, advocated for a 100-member upper house composed of academics, scientists, human rights activists, and representatives of marginalised communities.
He said that his party was against the shared votes-based proportional representation model for the upper house.
鈥榃e do not support the model as it could allow some parties to exert disproportionate influence by undermining the balance of power in the upper chamber,鈥� he said.
He added that the BNP too was against making the upper house as a copy of the lower house.
鈥楾he role and authority of the upper house must be distinct,鈥� Salahuddin said.
In the concluding part of the session, the NCC vice-chair said that since political parties had not reached a consensus on the proposed upper house despite multiple rounds of discussion, they delegated the responsibility of finalising the process to the NCC.
鈥楾he commission hopes to finalise its stance on the formation of a bicameral legislature through internal deliberations and informal discussions with political parties by the next week,鈥� Ali Riaz said.
Due to time constraints, the parties could not discuss the women鈥檚 representation issue, adjourned on Monday.聽 The 15th session is expected to be held on Sunday.
