Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and two other political parties staged a symbolic walkout from the National Consensus Commission’s dialogue session, protesting the law enforcement’s attack on students and guardians demonstrating against the casualties from the plane crash at Milestone School and College in Diabari, Uttara.
The incident took place on Wednesday morning at the start of the Commission’s 18th session of the second phase, held at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.
At the beginning of the session, CPB General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince stood up and voiced his protest. He said, “The attack on teachers, students, and guardians during the protest over the tragic incident at Milestone School and College echoes the shadows of authoritarian rulers from the past.”
He then announced a 10-minute symbolic walkout. His stance was supported by JASOD Standing Committee member Mushtaq Hossain and BASAD General Secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz. They later rejoined the dialogue around 11:25am.
Following the walkout, Commission Vice Chairman Professor Ali Riaz stated, “We welcome every political party’s exercise of democratic rights. We believe their messages have been conveyed to the nation, and the government will take them into consideration.”
Professor Ali Riaz further said, “The National Consensus Commission has held 17 meetings with political parties so far. In the second phase of the discussions, consensus has been reached on 8 issues.”
These include – Article 70 of the Constitution, chairmanship of parliamentary standing committees, demarcation of electoral boundaries, presidential pardon powers, decentralization of the judiciary, expansion of courts at the Upazila level, appointment of the Chief Justice and declaration of a state of emergency.
He also noted that several other fundamental issues are close to consensus, and efforts are ongoing to build agreement through further discussions.
He urged the political parties to reach decisions through concise discussions, given the limited time available.
Today’s meeting is focused on: the Election Commission, the Public Service Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Comptroller and Auditor General, and provisions for the appointment of the Ombudsman.
The meeting began at 11:30 AM, chaired by Commission Vice President Dr. Ali Riaz. Representatives from 28 invited political parties and 2 alliances, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, participated in the session.
Present at the meeting were National Consensus Commission members Safar Raj Hossain, Badiul Alam Majumdar, Emdadul Haque, Iftekharuzzaman and Ayub Mia.