Most political parties on Tuesday reached a consensus on keeping 100 seats aside for women in the next national parliament, said Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission Ali Riaz.
Talking to reporters after the day’s session of the commission, Riaz said there was no significant opposition, apart from one or two parties, to the idea of increasing the number of reserved seats for women.
He, however, said discussions are still going on regarding the method by which women will be elected to these reserved positions.
"After an entire day of discussion, we have yet to reach a decision regarding the mechanism of women's representation in these seats. It would be unrealistic to expect a decision on such an important issue in just one day. We hope to finalise the matter within the next week," Ali Riaz said.
He highlighted that nearly all political parties agreed on amending Article 70 to allow MPs to express independent opinions, except in cases of money bills and votes of confidence.
Besides, Ali Riaz said there was unanimous agreement on appointing opposition members to chair several key parliamentary standing committees — namely Public Accounts, Privileges, Estimation, and Public Undertakings.
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Parties also agreed to ensure proportional representation for the opposition in other parliamentary roles.
Regarding the process of appointing the Chief Justice, Riaz said, "Most political parties are in favour of amending the Constitution in this regard. But, there are disagreements over the procedural changes required for the appointment. A final decision on this matter is yet to be reached."
On the proposal for a bicameral legislature, Dr Riaz said many parties are still not in agreement in principle, suggesting the need for further discussion. Talks also included the idea of allocating 100 seats in the proposed upper house, he added.
About the allegations of favouritism towards the National Citizens’ Party (NCP) and Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ali Riaz said the commission is striving to maintain neutrality and work collectively with all political parties on matters of national importance.