The National Consensus Commission is set to begin dialogue with political parties on Thursday.
The inaugural dialogue with the Liberal Democratic Party will be held at 3:00pm, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.
The schedule for subsequent dialogues with other political parties would be announced in phases, the release added.
The commission鈥檚 announcement to start dialogues with political parties came a day after the interim government鈥檚 chief adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, held a meeting with senior field-level police officers at his office in Tejgaon, Dhaka.
During the meeting, Yunus stressed the urgency of implementing reforms, stating that the government had limited time before the elections scheduled for December.
The consensus commission鈥檚 vice-chairman Professor Ali Raiz told 抖阴精品 on Tuesday that the commission鈥檚 announcement was not linked to the interim government鈥檚 plan for the general election.
鈥楾he consensus commission is assigned to draft a charter after discussions with political parties by July this year. We are on our assignment,鈥� he said.
As of Tuesday, 15 political parties shared their opinions with the consensus commission. The deadline for submitting opinions, however, expired on March 13.
However, several political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, requested the commission to extend the deadline.
On March 5, the commission sent a 166-point questionnaire on key reform proposals to 38 political parties.
The country has 49 registered political parties.
Among the parties the consensus commission contacted, some are unregistered, including the newly launched National Citizen Party, Rashtra Sangskar Andolan, a faction of Gana Adhikar Parishad, Bhashani Anusari Parishad, a faction of Jatiya Party, and Aamjanatar Dal.
The Awami League and its allies, including the Workers Party of Bangladesh, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Jasad and Jatiya Party did not receive the questionnaire.
In this regard, Professor Riaz said that the consensus commission did not take the list of registered parties into consideration.
鈥楢fter the July-August uprising last year, we only maintain communication with the parties campaigning for democracy and not were the allies of the ousted fascist Awami League,鈥� he said.
Formed on February 12, the consensus commission, led by Professor Yunus, began its activities by holding a dialogue with political parties on February 15.
The commission was established to adopt the key recommendations of six reform commissions through political consensus.
The full reports of the six reform commissions were made public on February 8 and sent to political parties by February 22. Later, on March 6, the 166-point questionnaire was sent to the political parties, seeking their opinions.
The questionnaire covered reform proposals related to the constitution, the electoral process, the judiciary, public administration, and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The questionnaire sought party consent on implementing the proposed reforms, whether through an ordinance or referendum before the general election, a referendum during the election, a constituent assembly, post-election amendments or by elected assembly members.
On Tuesday, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD and Jatiya Gana Front submitted their written opinions to the commission vice-chairman, Professor Ali Riaz.
Speaking to 抖阴精品, JSD general secretary Shahid Uddin Mahmood Shapon said his party agreed with 117 points, partially agreed with 27 points, and disagreed with 17 points.
鈥榃e believe that the recommendations for reforms could be adopted through a referendum. Moreover, we support holding the general election and an election for a constitutional reform assembly, rather than a constituent assembly, on a single day,鈥� Shapon said.