Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizen Party representatives on Tuesday rejected the National Consensus Commission-drafted July National Charter 2025.
The political leaders expressed their concerns while talking to journalists in the NCC-hosted 21st dialogue session at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
On the day, the NCC鈥檚 second-round dialogue session covered discussions on the selection of the caretaker government chief adviser, the appointments of the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Ombudsman, and women鈥檚 representation in the parliament. However, no consensus was reached on the issues.
The NCC on Monday presented the draft July charter that would bind the political parties to implement the consensus-based reforms within two years of the formation of the next parliament.
NCC vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz declared, 鈥楾his dialogue will continue no longer than July 31.鈥�
Talking about the draft charter, Jamaat nayeb-e-amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher termed it 鈥榠ncomplete鈥� and the time-bound roadmap as 鈥榙angerous鈥�.
He advocated for a legal framework through an ordinance, to be later ratified by the elected parliament, or through a referendum.
NCP joint convener Javed Rasin echoed this sentiment.
Earlier, the NCC presented a refined formula to select the caretaker government鈥檚 chief adviser.
As proposed, a five-member selection committee, chaired by the parliament speaker would finalise the chief adviser from a pool of law-defined 鈥榚ligible鈥� candidates, nominated by political parties and independent lawmakers.聽聽
The selection committee members would finalise the chief adviser by building consensus, or pick one by a 4-1 majority vote, or include two members, one Appellate Division judge and one High Court judge, to facilitate a ranked-choice method, or resort to the constitution鈥檚 13th amendment, excluding the president.
The 13th amendment in 1996 provisioned for selecting the chief adviser from the last-retired chief justice and allowed the president for this role in case of unavailability of eligible candidates.
BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed objected to these voting mechanisms, arguing that the next parliament should make decisions in case of a deadlock.
The Jamaat鈥檚 Taher and the Rashtra Sangskar Andolan鈥檚 Syed Hasibuddin Hossain opposed Salahuddin鈥檚 stance and backed the NCC proposal.
Rejecting the 13th amendment, NCP member secretary Akhter Hossen pushed for the issue to be settled within the ongoing dialogue.
In contrast, the Gano Forum鈥檚 Jaglul Haider Afrik and the 12-Party Alliance鈥檚 Shahaduzzaman Selim supported using the 13th amendment.
The NCC also laid out fresh proposals for appointing the CAG and the Ombudsman, including amending articles 127(1) and 77 of the constitution, respectively.
For the CAG, a proposed seven-member selection committee headed by the deputy speaker would finalise the candidate to be appointed by the president.
For the Ombudsman, another seven-member committee headed by the parliament speaker would finalise the candidate.
Although the BNP had earlier opted out of the discussions on CAG and Ombudsman appointments, Salahuddin on Tuesday suggested pursuing consensus for filling in the long-vacant Ombudsman post.
He also recommended forming an Ombudsman secretariat and revising laws to define its powers as an investigative and quasi-judicial authority.
鈥極therwise, the constitutional inclusion of appointment procedures alone will not work,鈥� he said.
Several parties, including Gano Adhikar Parishad, NCP, National Democratic Party and Amar Bangladesh Party, advocated for the constitutional recognition of these appointment mechanisms.
The NCC also presented a fresh proposal retaining the current 50 reserved seats for women and their existing electoral process.
Additionally, it recommended mandating that parties must field women in one-fourth or one-fifth of their contested seats, if they run in at least 25 constituencies.
The BNP鈥檚 Salahuddin suggested a minimum of 5 per cent of a party鈥檚 nominations be allotted to women.
The Revolutionary Workers Party, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Socialist Party of Bangladesh, NCP, and Gano Adhikar Parishad strongly advocated for 100 reserved seats for women.
The Jamaat鈥檚 Taher said that the party was open to 100 reserved seats under a vote-share-based proportional system but otherwise supported retaining the existing 50 seats.
Wrapping up the discussion, NCC vice-chair Ali Riaz proposed that parties would commit to nominating 5鈥�7 per cent women candidates for the next national election, with a gradual increase to 15 per cent.
鈥楾hose who agree will sign the charter. Those who don鈥檛 can record their reservations,鈥� he said.
