Ali Riaz stresses building minimum consensus for national charter by July

Professor Ali Riaz, co-chairman of the National Consensus Commission, has urged political parties to identify key areas where at least a minimum consensus can be reached, with the aim of finalizing a national charter by July.

Speaking at the opening of the second phase of the political dialogue held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Tuesday, Ali Riaz emphasized the importance of collective agreement among the 30 participating political parties and alliances.

“We want to highlight areas where all parties can agree on a basic level and formalize these in a national charter by July,” he said. “While each party will uphold its own stance and manifesto, there is room to express additional views.”

Ali Riaz added that the charter would include only those proposals that have broad consensus. “Instead of separate negotiations, we have chosen a joint dialogue approach to encourage mutual understanding and position adjustments through discussion,” he said.

Acknowledging the limited timeframe, he stressed the need to draw conclusions even if full agreement on every issue is not possible. “Our goal is to finalize the charter within July,” he said.

He further noted that decisions on what to include in the charter will be made collectively, and issues where consensus is not reached will be recorded as ‘discussed but no consensus.’

The agenda for the dialogue includes constitutional Article 70, reserved seats for women in Parliament, permanent parliamentary committees, government tenure, and effective implementation of these provisions.

The session was moderated by Monir Haider, special assistant to the chief adviser. Commission members Safar Raj Hossain, Justice Emdadul Haque, Dr. Badiul Alam Mozumdar, Dr. Iftikharuzzaman, and Dr. Mohammad Ayub Mia were also present.

Representatives of 30 political parties, including BNP, Jamaat, NCP, AB Party, and Gan Sanghati Andolon, participated in the dialogue.