‘Party chief, Prime Minister will not be same person’ 

National Consensus Commission Vice-Chairman Professor Ali Riaz has said almost three-fourths of political parties and alliances have agreed that the person holding the post of prime minister will not simultaneously hold the post of party chief.

He said while briefing journalists after the 17th day of the second phase of the discussions of the commission with political parties at Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday.

Stating that most political parties have agreed on this issue, he added that some parties and alliances have expressed their differences on this issue. These parties and alliances will be able to give a ‘note of dissent’ in the national charter.

Mentioning that all political parties have agreed on the re-establishment of the caretaker government, he said some further progress has been made in today's discussions with political parties on this issue.

As per the decision of the meeting held on July 20 with the participation of political parties to reorganize the caretaker government system at the initiative of the Election Commission, the commission sent a revised and integrated proposal to all parties, said Ali Riaz. 

In view of that proposal, the parties were asked to provide their opinions, he said, adding today Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) agreed in principle with most of the proposals of the commission and presented their opinions.

Stating that various aspects of the proposal were discussed in detail through today's discussions, he said, however, no agreement could be reached on the use of the 'ranked choice' method yet.

He expressed hope that a resolution to the issue could be reached through further discussions on Thursday.

Representatives of 30 political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP), Gana Adhikar Parishad, Gana Sanghati, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Revolutionary Workers Party, and Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party, participated in today's discussions with the National Consensus Commission.

Commission members Justice Md. Emdadul Haque, Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, Dr. Badiul Alam Majumder, Safar Raj Hossain, Dr. Md. Ayub Mia and Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Manir Haidar were present at the press briefing.