If there is no consensus on reform, which path will reform take?

Bangladesh had set out towards the formation of a new state through an unprecedented mass uprising. The very first issue that came up after the uprising was the urgent need for restructuring the system of governance. To ensure that the system of government could not again pave the way for a fascist or autocratic regime, the interim government had formed several reform commissions, which worked on these issues for almost a year; however, we have already seen various instances where political parties have failed to reach a consensus on the issue of reform. Ali Riaz, Vice-President of the National Consensus Commission, also said yesterday, "We had dreamt that on the death anniversary of Abu Sayeed (July 16), all would together sign the July Charter; but in reality, how far that will be possible depends on the political parties. We now have some concerns regarding this."

 

According to media reports published on Monday (June 30), the National Consensus Commission has not been able to reach any agreement with the political parties regarding the method of appointment to constitutional positions despite three rounds of discussions. Furthermore, the political parties have so far failed to reach a consensus on most of the basic reform proposals as well.

 

In order to build consensus on the issue of reform, the Consensus Commission is currently holding topic-based discussions with political parties in a second phase. In this phase, about 20 basic reform proposals are supposed to be discussed. So far, nine issues have been discussed over seven days. Consensus has been reached on only two issues. In some cases, partial consensus has been achieved. However, no issue has yet been excluded from the discussion table.

 

At the beginning of the reform initiative, we had heard that elections would be held after the political parties had reached a general consensus on reform. Because an election without reform would merely be a matter of transferring power, while the system of governance of the state would remain the same; but now it seems that political parties are more interested in elections than in reform. And given the current socio-economic-political situation of the country, the interim government too seems desperate to exit through holding an election. If that happens, the reform process will truly fall into uncertainty. There are doubts as to how much reform will be carried out by the political party that assumes power after the election.

 

But why are political parties unable to reach consensus on reform? There are many reasons. Many reform proposals clash with the ideological interests of several political parties. For this reason, we have even seen movements through meetings and processions demanding the abolition of the reform commission. The disagreements among major political parties over basic reforms are so profound that there is scepticism among the parties themselves as to how successful the efforts at consensus will be.

 

The people want the political parties to reach a consensus. The people who have been terribly oppressed for so long by the existing state system—when they see that the political parties are not interested in reform, they become greatly disheartened; but if there is no consensus on reform, then through which path will reform take place? And if reform does not happen, then what meaning will such a great mass uprising have—that too is something that needs to be considered.