National Consensus Commission’s Vice Chairman Prof Ali Riaz on Sunday said many political parties are showing considerable flexibility in the talks with the Commission, aiming to reach a national consensus and formulate a national charter over the state reforms.

“Many political parties are showing enough flexibility in discussions with the National Consensus Commission. They want to reach a national consensus and to create a national charter,” he said while addressing a discussion at the International Mother Language Institute in the city.

Noting that the consensus commission’s dialogues with political parties are underway, Prof Riaz said everything (outcome of the dialogues) cannot be disclosed at this stage as the process is still in progress.

Prof Riaz blames 12th Amendment for rise of fascism in Bangladesh:

Prof Riaz said the 12th Amendment to the Constitution in 1991 led to a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of the Prime Minister, which was the main reason behind the emergence of last 16-year fascist rule.

“A terrible thing happened when Bangladesh entered the parliamentary system through the 12th Amendment (to the Constitution) in 1991. Every bit of the unimaginable power that had once been vested in the President through the Fourth Amendment in 1975 has been transferred to the Prime Minister (in 1991),” he said.

He said this concentration of the President’s power in the hand of the Prime Minister coupled with the power of the prime minister and a person-centre influence in Bangladesh’s political culture laid the foundation for 16 years of fascist-style governance.

He identified two key factors that facilitated the emergence of the fascism in Bangladesh. “One is that there is no barrier in the constitution to prevent the rise of a leader like Sheikh Hasina,” he said.

Citing that another is the judiciary system, he said the judiciary was excessively used by bringing it under full control the way within the Constitution.

Term-limit for prime minister:

Prof Riaz said the Constitution Reform Commission recommended limiting for a person to become the Prime Minister for maximum two terms.

Rejecting the argument that the Prime Minister’s term cannot be limited under the Westminster system, he said Bangladesh introduced the caretaker government system even though it had no precedent in the world before 1991.

“Who can say where the caretaker government system existed before 1991? We had to create a caretaker government system. So, now these questions have to be considered in light of our political reality,” he said.

On the issue of a proposed bicameral legislature, the Consensus Commission’s vice chairman said he does not support giving excessive powers to the upper house as its main role should be oversight.

“If power for the upper house is expanded beyond it (monitoring), a dual center of power may emerge, which would hurt governance. Executive power should remain with the lower house, where the Prime Minister is elected from,” he said.