Staff Correspondent

At the end of the first phase of reform discussions with the political parties, the National Consensus Commission Vice-Chairman Ali Riaz has said they are preparing for “topic-based” dialogues in the second phase.

Speaking ahead of a dialogue with the Bangladesh Communist Party (CPB) at the LD Hall of the parliament complex on Monday, he said this will pave the path to formulating the National Charter.

He said, “I hope that we will be able to discuss all the issues on which there are differences of opinion later. We will conclude the first phase of the dialogue and then start the second phase of these discussions very soon.”

A press conference will be held to announce the progress made in the first phase, he said.

“We have agreed with different political parties on many issues over the last two months of discussions. We hope that we will be able to draft a National Charter through the second phase of discussions based on all the opinions already received from political parties,” he said.

“Every partner, political party, civil society partner, [and other] political and social forces have a role to play in the Consensus Commission's initiative to build a national consensus. We can achieve our goals through our efforts."

Alongside building consensus among political parties on this issue, the Consensus Commission is working to finalise the recommendations forwarded by the panels formed to drive the state reform initiatives.

After seeking opinions of 39 political parties on these recommendations, the commission is holding dialogues based on the views presented by these parties. These discussions began on Mar 20.

The dialogue with CPB resumed on Monday from where it had ended on May 13. It marks the end of the first phase of dialogues.

A seven-member CPB delegation, led by General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince, participated in the dialogue with the commission.

Prince insisted that the election system should be “radically reformed” before holding the national election.

“People want to know whether they will be able to vote properly. Whether there’s a right to contest in the election. Whether there will be any administrative manipulation here. Or whether any communal-regional propaganda will divert people's attention from the voting. Will the old reign of fear be established?” he said.

He believes that the constitution, judiciary, elections, public administration, police and anti-corruption reforms should be discussed in conjunction with health and women's affairs reforms.

He said, “If their proposals are brought up for discussion, issues of public interest will gain more importance in future, people will be able to think and bring people's thoughts to the fore and involve us.

“If the specific questions of reform are brought before the people, if the people think these relate to them, then we can move towards progress.”

Prince said, “Although the Electoral Reform Commission [report] has many things to say, they are not in the questionnaire [spreadsheet]. I think that has created a problem. If the people can find out about them through the media, there will be an opportunity for them to give their opinions.