
The upcoming national charter would state that three-fourths of the political parties agreed that an individual serving as the prime minister should not simultaneously hold the position of party chief, with a note of dissent from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its like-minded allies.
The decision came during the 17th session of the National Consensus Commission’s second-round dialogue at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Tuesday.
The session, also covering the discussions over the selection process of the top officials of a caretaker government and five key constitutional and statutory bodies, was adjourned without a consensus.Â
The NCC adopted a condolence motion over Monday’s tragic jet crash at Milestone School and College at Uttara in Dhaka.
At the post-session press briefing, NCC vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz said that three-fourths of the 30 parties opposed the prime minister’s dual role, including as a party chief.
‘Some parties have expressed dissent on this issue. Their notes of dissent will be recorded in the national charter,’ he said.
Beside the BNP, the Liberal Democratic Party, Bangladesh Labour Party, National Democratic Movement, 12-Party Alliance, Jatiyatabadi Samamana Jote and Amjanatar Dal saw no problem with the same individual holding the positions of party chief and prime minister.
Earlier in the session, the NCC presented its revised proposal on the process of constituting a caretaker government and its composition. Â
According to the proposal, a five-member selection committee, including the prime minister, the opposition leader, the speaker, the deputy speaker, and one representative from the third-largest party in parliament, would select the future caretaker government’s chief adviser 15 days before the dissolution of parliament.
Thirty days prior to that, the speaker-led committee would invite nominations from parliamentary parties, other Election Commission-registered parties, and independent lawmakers.
The committee would finalise the chief adviser from the nominated persons by consensus. In case the selection process gets stuck, the members would select the finalist through secret ballot, using a ranked-choice method.
If the proposed formulas fail, the reinstatement of the caretaker government-related provisions, adopted by the constitution’s 13th amendment, would be applied.
However, the consideration of the president’s additional role as chief adviser, as mentioned as the last option of the 13th amendment, would not be applicable.
Opposing the proposal, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed recommended a four-member selection committee, excluding the representation from the third-largest party in the parliament.
He said that an expansion of the selection committee would encourage horse-trading.
In a parliament, purchase of vote or support is often termed as horse-trading.
Salahuddin also opposed the ranked-choice method, recommending the selection of the chief adviser should be based on consensus in order to avoid political differences in the future.
The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami voted for a five-member selection committee but opposed the ranked-choice method.
‘If all of the proposed methods fail, we recommend reinstating the 13th amendment, excluding the president,’ Jamaat nayeb-e-amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said.
Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh general secretary Saiful Huq recommended an 11-member cabinet of the caretaker government and the selection of other advisers by a selection committee.
A number of parties, including the Amar Bangladesh Party, Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-Jasod, Gano Adhikar Parishad, Rashtra Sangskar Andolan, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, and Nagorik Oikya voted for a five-member selection committee and ranked-choice method to determine the chief adviser.
Postponing the discussion on the issue, the NCC vice-chair requested the parties that opposed the ranked-choice method to come up with an alternative way in the next session.
The NCC later presented fresh proposals regarding the appointment of top officials of the Election Commission, Public Service Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General office, Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Ombudsman.
As per the proposals, the president would appoint one chief election commissioner and up to four election commissioners, based on recommendations from a selection committee.
This committee would include the speaker, deputy speaker, leaders of the parliament and the opposition, a lawmaker from the third-largest party or other opposition parties, a non-partisan nominee from the president and an Appellate Division judge representing the chief justice.
Ninety days before the end of current officials’ terms, the committee would invite applications from ‘interested’ candidates, requiring a letter of interest and biodata as defined by the stipulated law.
The same process would apply to selecting three seven-member Public Service Commissions -- each for general, education, and health cadres, as well as for appointing the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Ombudsman.
For the ACC, a separate seven-member selection committee was proposed, comprising the second-most senior Appellate Division judge, the senior-most High Court judge, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Public Service Commission chair, one representative each from the ruling and opposition parties and a civil-society member nominated by the president.
LDP secretary general Redwan Ahmed opposed the inclusion of representatives from the president and chief justice in the committees while RWPB’s Saiful raised concerns about the application process for interested candidates while SPB’s general secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz questioned the lack of clarity in the decision-making mechanism.
Due to time constraints, the commission adjourned the session without concluding the discussion until today.