The National Consensus Commission on Sunday came up with revisions in the constitutional and statutory appointment committee and the upper house of a bicameral parliament.
However, the session of the second-round NCC dialogue, held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on the day, was adjourned without a majority agreement on the revisions as several parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, continued to oppose some provisions of the fresh proposals.
BNP鈥檚 rejection of the revised appointment committee and electoral framework for the upper house drew frustration from multiple parties, notably the National Citizen Party, Amar Bangladesh Party, and Gano Adhikar Parishad.
Chaired by NCC vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz, the commission proposed that the seven-member appointment committee would select top officials specifically for the Election Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Public Service Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, and the Human Rights and Information Commissions.
The appointment committee, however, would include, as stipulated earlier, the prime minister, speakers of the both parliamentary houses, the main opposition leader, a representative from the other opposition parties, and one nominee each from the president and the chief justice. The lower house speaker would serve as the chair.
The revised proposal says that at least five members must agree on a list of candidates, which would be made public and subject to interviews in person.
The president would finalise the appointments within 10 days of receiving the list. The committee鈥檚 mandate would expire upon the dissolution of Jatiya Sangsad, stipulates the fresh proposal.
The BNP, represented by its standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed, reasserted its firm opposition to the idea of such a high-powered committee.
If the prime minister鈥檚 term is limited, the judiciary is fully independent, and elections are held under a credible caretaker government, neutral appointments can be ensured without a new committee structure, Salahuddin argued.
Other parties also raised objections to the revised proposal, with Gano Adhikar Parishad opposing the inclusion of a presidential nominee, Khelafat Majlish freshly suggesting the聽 promotion of a new chief election commissioner from the existing commissioners if the post becomes vacant during a caretaker government period.
The Bangladesh Jatiya Dal, Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam, and Bangladesh Labour Party also turned down the revised proposal, questioning how the NCC decided on the reform of the constitution鈥檚 article 70 despite BNP鈥檚 note of dissent on it.
In response, NCC vice-chair Riaz urged the parties to discuss the fresh proposal in their party forum.
鈥楾he commission does not want to reach a 鈥榗onsensus鈥� with dissension,鈥� Riaz said.
The NCC presented new terms of reference also for the upper house.
The NCC has proposed a 300-member lower house that would be formed by the first-past-the-post electoral system, while 100 additional reserved seats for women would be filled also by direct election.
The fresh proposal, in this regard, recommended that the senate would consist of 100 members to be elected by proportional representation based on the votes casted.
The NCC maintained that the Electoral Reform Commission-proposed half of the upper house seats be filled by party-nominated candidates while the remaining 50 per cent would be reserved for different professionals and representatives from marginalised communities.
The BNP, while agreeing to the proposed 400-member lower house and 100-member upper house, rejected proportional representation based on the vote share, saying that it would consider alternative models if there were any.
The Communist Party of Bangladesh, Samyabadi Dal, and Socialist Party of Bangladesh maintained their reservations against the bicameral legislature, arguing that the country鈥檚 current political maturity did not warrant such structural expansion.
The Islami Andolan stuck to its earlier advocated vote share-based proportional representation both in the lower and upper houses while the Jamiyat Ulama -e-Islam supported bicameralism but suggested deferring it for the next parliament election.
Parties, including the NCP, AB Party, Ganosamhati Andolan, Revolutionary Workers Party, Rashtra Sangskar Andolan, and Nagorik Oikya, continued their support for proportional representation in the upper house.
The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD and Bangladesh Jatiya Jamajtantrik Dal-Jasod, based on their party decisions, also backed bicameralism but strongly recommended that the upper house must be composed of non-partisan members.
Providing a new proposal, it said that all 400 seats of the lower house should be open to both male and female candidates, but Jamiyat Ulama-e-Islam secretary general Monjurul Islam Afandi reiterated his party鈥檚 opposition to increasing reserved seats for women.
Aam Janata Party central committee member Sadhana Mahal criticised the parties opposing women鈥檚 political representation.
Politicians expressed divergent opinions even over the NCC-proposed terms of reference for the upper house.
According to the fresh proposal, the upper house may hold a bill for a maximum of two months. If it fails to act within that period, the bill will be considered automatically passed. The upper house may return the bill to the lower house with amendments, which the lower house can accept in full, in part, or reject entirely.
Opposing the idea, BNP鈥檚 Salahuddin recommended that the upper house might hold a bill for a maximum of one month.聽
In the Sunday鈥檚 session, the BNP鈥檚 opposition to the revised proposals led to visible irritation among other parties, including the NCP, AB Party, and Gano Adhikar Parishad.
NCP member secretary Akhtar Hossain accused the BNP of stalling the consensus dialogue and allowing regressive politics to dominate.
Jamaat nayeb-e-ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher questioned the NCC鈥檚 special consideration for the parties who opposed the proposed reforms.
Gano Adhikar Parishad president Nurul Haque Nur requested the senior politicians to consider the reform dialogue seriously to honour the July uprising.聽
As discussions grew increasingly polarised, the NCC vice-chair concluded the session by adjourning the talks until July 2.
