The National Consensus Commission will start its dialogue with experts from the coming week to determine the pathway to implement the July Charter, commission vice-chair Professor Ali Riaz said on Friday.
Addressing reporters at the LD Auditorium of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in Dhaka, Ali Riaz revealed this information.
鈥榃ith the expert opinions, the commission will soon resume its dialogue with political parties, aiming to find a suitable plan to implement the July Charter in the shortest possible time,鈥� the NCC vice-chair said.
The July Charter will feature both the reform recommendations on which consensus was reached and those having majority support but also having dissents as well.
Although Ali Riaz didn鈥檛 provide details about the experts the commission will聽 sit with and the schedule of the meeting, an NCC member told 抖阴精品 that the commission was yet to finalise the experts, but it would discuss the issues with those who are 鈥榠mpartial鈥� and could provide 鈥榓ppropriate鈥� solutions.
The member said that the meeting schedule would be finalised on Sunday.
Aiming to reach a political consensus on recommendations from reform commissions covering the constitution, judiciary, electoral process, police, public administration, and Anti-Corruption Commission, the interim government formed the National Consensus Commission on February 12.
The Consensus Commission formally began its work on February 15 with a six-month tenure ending August 15.
During the March 20-May 19 period of the commission鈥檚 first-round dialogue with 38 political parties, the majority of the parties agreed to 62 reforms-related recommendations.
In the second-round dialogue held between June 3 and July 31, 30 parties reached consensus on 11 recommendations while some of them expressed dissents on nine other recommendations, according to the latest NCC report.
Amid a strong demand from some parties for finding a pathway to legalise the charter, the NCC planned to discuss the issue with experts and the political parties again.
In response to this correspondent鈥檚 question about the future of the key recommendations with notes of dissent after the finalisation of the July Charter, Ali Riaz said, 鈥業n such cases, expert opinions would be sought to understand the global context, real-world experiences, and the processes through which the implementation could make the notes of dissent meaningful.鈥�
He added that the significance of the fact that an overwhelming majority of the political parties had reached consensus on those issues must also be taken into account.
The 11 recommendations on which consensus was reached include opposition lawmakers-chaired four parliamentary standing committees, restructured delimitation procedures, revised presidential clemency powers, decentralisation of judiciary, cabinet鈥檚 decision on state of emergency, a 10-year term limit for the prime minister, limiting constitutional amendment options, appointment of the chief justice, the formation of an independent police commission, embedding the Election Commission appointment process in the constitution, and the expansion of the fundamental rights of the citizens
The nine agreed recommendations with dissents include amending article 70 of the constitution, the prime minister holding multiple offices, embedding the appointment procedures for the Public Service Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General, and Ombudsman in the constitution, women鈥檚 representation in the parliament, forming a 100-member upper house, the presidential election method, presidential powers, selection of the chief adviser under the caretaker government, and the fundamental principles of the state.
Responding to this correspondent鈥檚 another query about the disclosure of the NCC鈥檚 operational costs, he said that the law ministry that was providing logistics to the commission, preserved the accounts.聽
In the press briefing, other NCC members Justice Md Emdadul Haque, Iftekharuzzaman, Badiul Alam Majumder, Safar Raj Hossain, Md Ayub Mia and the chief adviser鈥檚 special assistant for reform, Monir Haidar, were present.