National Consensus Commission Vice Chair Prof Ali Riaz on Tuesday called on political parties to show flexibility to resolve the remaining reform issues in a short time in a bid to prepare the National Charter within this July.
“We must work together to reach a consensus on a National Charter. As far as possible, we need to do it collectively. For that, we hope each party must continue to change its position to some extent. But please consider the time constraint, so that we can finalise the charter within this month of July,” he said.
Prof Ali Riaz made the call while presiding over the 14th day discussion of the second-round reform dialogue with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.
He said a consensus has already been reached on some issues, a few others were agreed upon at the initial stage of discussion, and now several still remain unresolved.
“We will continue our discussions on the remaining issues,” said the Vice Chair of the Consensus Commission.
He said if there is any failure in consensus-building efforts, its liability will lie not only on the Commission but on all political parties involved.
“If we fail anywhere, it will be a collective failure. If the Commission fails, it must be all our collective failure. We must consider it,” said Prof Riaz.
Noting that there is no option for failure, he said the responsibility entrusted to the Consensus Commission is also upon the political parties. “We have only become a partner in your efforts,” he said.
The Vice Chair said all unsettled issues must be resolved in the next several days of discussion.
Several important Constitutional reform issues, including the formation of the Upper House of a prospective bicameral parliament and the woman seats in Parliament are being discussed in Tuesday’s dialogue.
Some 30 political parties, including BNP, Jamaat and NCP joined the talks to present their respective positions on the proposed reforms.
The Consensus Commission aims to finalise a unified stance on key reform proposals by July 31 after completing discussions on nearly 20 major constitutional issues during the ongoing second-round dialogue.
Based on political consensus, the Commission will unveil the National Charter — a reform roadmap aimed at restructuring the state.
The second round of dialogues was launched on June 2 by Chief Adviser and Commission Chairman Prof Muhammad Yunus.
