National Consensus Commission vice chairman Ali Riaz has said that his commission’s dialogues with political parties are still somewhat behind in achieving encouraging progress despite there has been advancement on various issues over the past seven days of discussions.
Riaz made these remarks while delivering welcome address at the seventh day of the second phase talks with political parties over key reforms agenda at Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Sunday.
“We had dreamed that on the anniversary of Abu Sayeed’s martyrdom, we would all come together to sign the July Charter. But in reality, how feasible that will be depends on the political parties,” he said.
We are somewhat concerned that we may not reach that point,” he said adding that no new issues were added for Sunday’s discussions.
“Since consensus had not been reached on several previous issues, those topics were brought back to the table,” he said.
The agenda includes the formation of an appointment committee for constitutional and statutory bodies, a bicameral parliament, the election process of the upper house, and the responsibilities and role of the upper house, he said.
Reminding the political parties about last year’s July upheaval, the NCC vice chairman said, “We all remember the oppression and fascism we faced. Another July has come. Last July, we did not raise our individual party flags—we raised the national flag. We all joined a bloody struggle to be freed from fascism.”
Stressing that the discussions must move toward a conclusion within the month of July, he said that it is crucial to ensure that no one in the future can carry out constitutional reforms that go against the will of the people.
Riaz emphasised the need to limit individual power to prevent the emergence of authoritarianism in governance.
He said there is a real concern that an authoritarian system may evolve, and “we cannot dismiss this fear”.
Safeguards must be established constitutionally. Ensuring an independent judiciary is part of this, he said.
Highlighting the necessity of reform progress for the national interest, Riaz said, “None of us want to return to the previous state. So please consider the matter from a national perspective. How much of what we committed to last July has been achieved? Will we think only of party and personal interests, or will we also consider the national interest?”
He also noted that the Commission has been flexible in its reform proposals.
The Commission has shifted its position because this is a collective aspiration. Political parties represent a large section of the people. Through the proposals of the political parties, the Commission has shown flexibility on issues like Article 70, the National Constitutional Council, and the process of forming the upper house.
The Commission is certainly not an adversary to the political parties. “We are committed and want to remain sincere.”
Other members of the commission Badiul Alam Majumdar, Justice Emdadul Haque, Iftekharuzzaman, and Ayub Miah, were also present at the talks while Monir Hayder, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser, was moderating the session.