Although both the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami agreed on restoring the caretaker government, they hold differences of opinion regarding its duration and scope of authority.
This disagreement became evident from the statements of the representatives of the two parties after the eight-day discussion of the second phase talks between political parties and the National Consensus Commission, held on Wednesday at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, “We propose a 90-day term for the caretaker government. However, in case of unavoidable emergencies, an extension of one more month may be allowed. But the 90-day limit should be made permanent as a baseline.”
On the scope of authority, he said, “Nowhere is it written that the caretaker government must conduct local government elections. The Election Commission has constitutional mandates related to only two entities — the President and the National Parliament — and that provision remains unchanged.”
Referring to the four tiers of local government, he added, “If the caretaker government had to conduct all these elections, then its term would stretch to five years, which is completely unrealistic. We do not believe local government elections fall under the caretaker’s duties.”
On the other hand, Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher said that both local and national elections should be held under the caretaker government.
“Our experience shows that no fair national election is possible without a caretaker setup — the same applies to local government elections,” he said.
On the duration, he stated, “The Commission is suggesting three months, but Jamaat-e-Islami is proposing four months for the caretaker government.”
Taher also expressed doubt over whether the national charter will be finalised by the end of July.
“I doubt whether it will happen in July. Even if we need a bit more time to reach consensus, we are in favour of exercising patience and continuing the dialogue.”
“We hope to reach consensus on the most important 5 to 7. Even if not all, we are optimistic about consensus on at least 75% to 80% of the key issues,” he added.
Apart from this issue, there was unanimous agreement among political parties regarding the delimitation of electoral constituencies. Both short-term and long-term measures were discussed.
As part of short-term measure, a specialised committee comprising skilled individuals will be formed with the assistance of the Election Commission to determine constituency boundaries for the 13th National Parliamentary Election.
As long-term measure, after every population census, the delimitation of constituencies will be made mandatory under Article 119(1)(c) of the Constitution.
The word “and” at the end of that clause will be amended to include, “Provision for the formation of a specialised committee through law.”
This will align with the Delimitation of Constituencies Act, 2021, as amended in 2025, particularly with the insertion of Section 8(3), defining the formation and functions of such a committee.
Emerging form the meeting, NCC vice-chairman Ali Riaz said there is no disagreement among political parties regarding the reinstatement of the caretaker government system.
“There is a clear and specific consensus on this issue (caretaker issue),” he told reporters at a briefing.
He said discussions on the formation, structure and jurisdiction of the caretaker government took place today, with political parties moving significantly closer through open and detailed dialogue.
Apart from the caretaker issue, the demarcation of electoral constituencies was also discussed. “On this matter too, a notable consensus has been reached,” he said.
He said the parties agreed on taking both immediate and long-term measures for constituency delimitation.
Representatives from 30 political parties, including BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ganasamhati Andolon, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Biplabi Workers Party, and Amar Bangladesh Party, took part in the talks.
The next round of talks with political parties will be held on Thursday at 10:30am.