The National Consensus Commission (NCC) is facing challenges in reaching a consensus over three significant reform issues -- the appointment of the election-time caretaker government chief, the formation of the upper house and the election system for 100 reserved seats for women, reports UNB.
Though Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami offered almost similar proposals about it, particularly the selection process of its chief adviser, the NCC could not reach a final decision yet over the issue due to differences from some other political parties including National Citizen Party-NCP.
The Commission is now working to build political consensus on 19 key constitutional reform issues by July 31 in a bid to prepare a national charter (reform charter), but the progress of the second-round dialogue is delayed due to differences among the political parties over the three issues.
To overcome the impasse, the Commission presented revised proposals several times particularly on the caretaker government system and the structure of the proposed upper house.
Though the political parties earlier reached a consensus over the restoration of the caretaker government to oversee the national election and its other matters including its tenure, but disagreed over the selection process of the chief adviser.
BNP earlier proposed five options to select the chief of the caretaker government, while Jamaat placed three alternative proposals in this regard.
But the two major parties have recently placed their respective revised proposals to select the chief adviser. There is no major difference between their positions over the issue.
BNP, in its revised proposal submitted to the NCC on Monday last, suggested forming a four-member search committee composed of the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Speaker and the Deputy Speaker (from the opposition). The committee would select the Chief Adviser based on consensus from ten names ---five each nominated by both the ruling and opposition parties. If consensus is not reached, the party proposed following the relevant process outlined in the 13th amendment of the Constitution, excluding the provision where the President would head the caretaker government as the last option.
Jamaat, in its final revised proposal, recommended a five-member search committee including a representative from the third largest party in Parliament in addition to the four members proposed by BNP.
They suggested the ruling and main opposition parties nominate three candidates each, the third largest party two names, and other parties or independents one name each. In case of failure to reach consensus, Jamaat also proposed the process outlined in the 13th Amendment dropping the option for the President to take the charge.
Both the parties viewed that the selection of the caretaker chief should be based on the consensus within the search committee.
About the Jamaat's views for formation a five-member search committee, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed at a press briefing on Tuesday last showed flexibility over the formation of the search committee, saying that the search committee could be comprised of five persons by including a representative from the third-largest party in Parliament.
However, several other parties, including NCP objected to reviving the appointment process outlined in the 13th Amendment, citing previous controversies. Many instead advocated for a ranked-choice voting system within the search committee to appoint the caretaker chief.
NCP proposed a ranked-choice voting system in the appointment process to ensure a neutral and acceptable caretaker government.
Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher on Tuesday said the selection of the chief adviser of the caretaker government should be made based on consensus not the simple majority. "We don't want a process where distrust is created between political parties. Rather, we need to reach an acceptable solution through discussion," he said.
The NCC proposed a five-member search committee similar to Jamaat's structure. Every political party and independent MP would be asked to nominate one eligible name. If consensus fails, each of the ruling and main opposition parties would propose three names, and the third-largest party would nominate two.
