National charter to be based on political parties’ opinions: Ali Riaz

National Consensus Commission Vice Chairman Professor Ali Riaz has said that the National Charter will be written with modified proposals based on the opinions given by the political parties. 

Professor Ali Riaz was speaking at the beginning of the second phase of discussions between the political parties and the National Consensus Commission at the Doel Hall of the Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday.

“The proposals put forth by various commissions during the reform process are not final. The National Charter will be formulated incorporating revised proposals, shaped by the viewpoints of political parties,” he said.

He said that all proposals would not receive consensus, and any issue lacking consensus would be excluded from the National Charter.

“We will find agreement on certain points. The remaining issues will be addressed by the political parties in their respective election manifestos. It will be up to the people to decide how much they accept,” he added.

Referring to the time limitation, Ali Riaz noted that the public is eager to understand the activities of the National Consensus Commission and to fulfill that expectation, the second phase of discussions is being broadcast live, allowing citizens to stay informed about the commission’s work.

He expressed the hope that the drafting of the National Charter would be completed by July. He reminded political parties that it is essential to reach at least a minimum level of consensus on the reform proposals.

Some 30 political parties including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Gono Odhikar Parishad, Gonosanghoti Andolon, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party participated in the discussion. 

Commission members Justice Md Emdadul Haque, Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, Safar Raj Hossain, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, and Dr Md Ayub Mia and Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Monir Haider were present.