Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Monday staged a walkout from the reform dialogue during the discussion over the proposed appointment process for four key constitutional and statutory bodies.
Before the walkout, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said his party would not take part in the discussion regarding the proposed provisions for appointing members of the Public Service Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General and Ombudsman.
Vice-chair of the National Consensus Commission Professor Ali Riaz placed the proposal for discussion after 11:30am in the 20th session of the second-round dialogues with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.
As the topic was placed, Salahuddin Ahmed announced that BNP would refrain from participating in the talks on this specific issue.
In response, Professor Ali Riaz said that the BNP had informed them of their intention to remain present but not take part in the discussion. If one political party chose not to join a particular discussion, the entire dialogue could not be halted for that reason, he added.
Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince, however, expressed concern saying that it would be difficult to move forward with the discussions or reach a consensus if a major party like BNP does not participate.
