BNP obstructing core reforms in consensus dialogue: NCP

While most parties have agreed to minor reform proposals in the ongoing national consensus dialogue, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a few other parties are opposing fundamental reforms, alleged Akhtar Hossain, Member Secretary of the National Citizen Party (NCP).

Speaking on Tuesday (15 July) during the 14th day of the second round of the consensus dialogue, Akhtar Hossain said, “BNP and a handful of other parties are creating an atmosphere to exclude core reform proposals. They are hindering the consensus process.”

Issuing a warning, he declared, “NCP will not compromise on fundamental reforms. If needed, we are ready to take to the streets.”

NCP demanded that any future amendments to the Constitution’s Preamble, Articles 48, 56, 142, and the caretaker government-related Articles 58(b), 58(c), 58(d) be passed through a public referendum. Additionally, Akhtar Hossain proposed adopting a proportional representation (PR) system for forming an upper chamber in Parliament.

“We want a system where even a party that receives just 1% of the vote can have representation in the upper house,” he said. “This will help establish a culture of multiparty democracy and checks and balances.”

He alleged that although most parties support the PR system, the BNP and a few others are opposing it and trying to remove the upper house proposal from the discussion table altogether.

Akhtar further said, “Everyone agrees on minor reforms, but when it comes to major reforms—like a unified recruitment board, establishing checks and balances, and non-partisan appointments—BNP backs out. It’s as if they’re saying patchwork fixes are enough, no need to repair the foundation.”

He added that decentralization of power, limiting executive authority, reforms in the appointment process of the President and Chief Justice, and neutral appointments to constitutional bodies are all part of NCP’s core reform agenda.

Regarding NCP’s progress in securing registration with the Election Commission, Akhtar Hossain stated, “We have submitted our constitution and all required documents. Some observations were made, and we will resubmit after making the necessary corrections.”