Despite its commitment to establishing a bicameral parliament, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is firmly against adopting any form of proportional representation (PR) in seat distribution. Instead, the party wants the upper house seats allocated in proportion to the number of seats held by parties in the lower house.
BNP leaders said this position will be formally presented at the upcoming dialogue of the National Consensus Commission scheduled for next week.
This stance was finalised at a meeting of the BNP’s standing committee held on last Thursday night at the party chairperson’s political office in Gulshan. Several senior leaders confirmed this after the meeting.
Party insiders noted that if the Consensus Commission itself recommends scrapping the idea of an upper house, BNP will not oppose it. However, as the party made a pledge for a bicameral parliament in its 31-point reform agenda, it will remain committed to that pledge if it forms the next government. The party’s current proposal envisions an upper house comprising distinguished individuals from various sectors of society, representing marginalised communities and contributing to national development.
The meeting was chaired virtually by the party’s acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, who joined from London. Among those present were Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and standing committee members Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, Major (Retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, and Professor Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.
Earlier, during the Consensus Commission’s dialogues with political parties, there had been broad agreement on forming the upper house with 100 members. However, the method of election remained contentious. On Monday, the Commission proposed an alternative model of selecting members from 64 districts and 12 city corporations, but this was outright rejected by BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizen Party (NCP), and most other parties. Instead, BNP and four other parties proposed that seats in the upper house should be distributed proportionally to the lower house composition.
In contrast, Jamaat, NCP, and 21 other parties favoured a proportional representation system. Some parties even suggested that without PR-based elections, there was no justification for maintaining an upper house.
Following the Commission’s meeting, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters, “We stand by our original proposal. According to our 31-point agenda, the upper house would include eminent individuals from various sectors and representatives of marginalised communities to ensure inclusive development.” He reiterated that BNP’s proposal included setting the upper house membership at 100.
On the issue of women’s representation in parliament, there was broad agreement among political parties to increase the number of reserved seats for women from 50 to 100. However, consensus could not be reached on the election method. The Commission initially proposed increasing the total number of parliamentary seats to 400, with 100 rotating seats contested only by women. When consensus on this could not be achieved, the Commission later suggested that parties contesting more than 25 seats should nominate women candidates in at least one-third of constituencies. This too was rejected by BNP, Jamaat, NCP, and most other parties.
BNP reiterated its position that while it supports raising the number of reserved seats for women to 100, those seats should be distributed in proportion to a party’s number of elected members in the lower house. Jamaat supported PR-based seat allocation, while NCP proposed a new formula for direct elections to women’s seats.
During the standing committee meeting, BNP leaders also discussed the method of electing female members to parliament. They reaffirmed their support for enhancing women’s participation and representation. Under the party’s new proposal, 50 out of 100 seats for women will remain reserved. Over time, BNP aims to gradually introduce direct elections for these seats. Specifically, in the upcoming 13th parliamentary elections, 15 out of 300 seats will be directly contested by women. In the 14th parliamentary elections, this number would double to 30.
The meeting also discussed the balance of power between the President and the Prime Minister. BNP is open to bringing about some adjustments to ensure a balance of power but rejects any arrangement that would undermine the authority of the Prime Minister. The standing committee believes that the head of government must retain sufficient executive powers for stable governance.
BNP leaders warned that significantly expanding the President’s powers would undermine the effectiveness of parliamentary democracy. They stressed that whether the country follows a presidential or parliamentary system in the future, the head of government must hold adequate authority to ensure stability and balance. However, no final decision was made on this matter, and further discussions are expected.
Commenting on the discussions on Friday, BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, “Those advocating for PR in Bangladesh have ulterior motives. They are trying to destabilise the country by complicating the electoral process.”