Staff Correspondent

Political parties have reached a broad consensus on gradually increasing women’s representation in parliament to 33 percent, while a proposal has been placed to enhance the powers of the President, said National Consensus Commission (NCC) Vice Chair Prof Ali Riaz on Wednesday.

“In today’s discussion, we saw significant progress on women’s representation in parliament. Almost all parties agreed to eventually raise the number of women MPs to 100. Despite a few parties noting their dissent, a functional consensus has been achieved on this issue,” he told a press briefing following the 22nd session of the NCC’s second-round dialogue with political parties in the city's Foreign Service Academy.

He said the parties reached a consensus on amending Article 65(3) of the Constitution to retain the existing 50 reserved seats for women while paving the way for gradual expansion.

“The July Charter will call upon political parties to nominate at least 5 percent women candidates for the general seats in the upcoming national election,” said Prof Riaz, adding that parties are expected to increase that share to 10 percent in the next (14th) election.

The aim is to achieve the 33 percent representation target by gradually increasing the share of women candidates by 5 percent in each general election until the goal is met, he said.

Although the 17th amendment to the Constitution currently ensures the reserved seats for women until 2043, this provision could be repealed if the 33 percent target is achieved earlier, said the NCC vice chair.

On president's powers, Riaz said a draft concept paper was presented to the political parties during the dialogue, proposing constitutional amendments to expand the President’s authority beyond what is currently allowed under Article 48(3).

“Now the President can only appoint the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice independently as per the article 48(3). We’ve proposed that the President be allowed to make some more appointments independently ,” he said.

These include the Attorney General, Chairpersons and Members of the National Human Rights Commission, Information Commission, Press Council, University Grants Commission, Bangladesh Bank Governor, Energy Regulatory Commission, Telecom Regulatory Commission, Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force, and Director Generals of DGFI and NSI, he said.

“These proposals have been handed over to the political parties for review. If a consensus is reached, the Constitution will have to be amended accordingly,” said Ali Riaz.

During the break of the session, the Commission also met with Interim Government Chief Adviser Prof Yunus and briefed him on the progress and unresolved issues in the dialogue.

Prof Riaz said their goal is to achieve consensus on all issues to be included in the National Charter by July 31.

 “So far, consensus has been achieved on 14 key issues, including women’s seats in parliament,” he said.

He added that the Commission has been tasked with giving final decisions on the structure of a non-party interim government and appointment process to some key constitutional institutions.

“The Commission and political parties have made significant progress in formulating an inclusive and widely acceptable national charter. A draft of the issues already agreed upon during the first phase has been handed over to the parties for final review. We expect any additions or objections to be submitted by tomorrow,” Ali Riaz added.