United News of Bangladesh

As part of its series of talks with political parties, the National Consensus Commission is going to sit in separate discussions with Bangladesh Jasod and Zaker Party on Saturday over the reform recommendations. The talks with Jasod will be held at 10:00am, while that with Zaker Party at 3:00pm at the LD Hall of the Jatiya Sangsad Complex, said a press release on Friday. The Consensus Commission opened the dialogues on March 20 last and already held talks with six political parties – Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Khelafat Majlish, Bangladesh Labour Party, Rastra Sangshaskar Andolan, Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party and Nagorik Oikya. The Commission has a plan to complete the first round of talks by the first week of May. The Consensus Commission, spearheaded by Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, started its work on February 15, 2025. NBR mulls developing a central app to boost VAT revenue The commission identified the crucial recommendations made in the reports of five reform commissions – the constitution reform commission, the public administration reform commission, the electoral system reform commission, the judiciary reform commission and the ACC reform commission – to seek opinions from the political parties. Later, the commission sent a set of recommendations in spreadsheet format to 38 political parties asking them to send their specific opinions on the important reform recommendations by March 13. A total of 32 political parties, including BNP, Jamaat and NCP submitted their respective proposals to the Consensus Commission.

President Abdul Hamid held discussions with three political parties - Zaker Party, Bangladesh Kalyan Party and Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) at Bangabhaban on the formation of an acceptable Election Commission (EC), President's Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin briefed the reporters after the meeting. Zaker party participated in the dialogue with the President at 6pm while a six-member delegation led by party chairman Mostafa Amir Faisal placed four-point proposals, including the enactment of electoral laws and forming a search committee comprising representatives of registered political parties to give the EC a neutral and acceptable manner. They also proposed for using modern technology-block-chain system and e-voting system for ensuring a free, a fair and credible election. Read: UP chairman takes oath on parole in Feni At 7pm, Bangladesh Kallyan Party took part in the dialogue with the President with six-member delegation led by its Secretary General Abdul Awal Mamun. They proposed to form an EC by issuing an ordinance if it is not possible to enact new law immediately. The leaders also sought all-out cooperation of the Executives in EC activities and to ensure accountability of the Election Commission and the government in line with the Article 126 of the Constitution.  Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) Chairman Barrister Andaleeve Rahman joined the talks at 8pm. They placed four proposals, including enacting timely law, forming EC in accordance with the Constitution and involving armed forces as a collaborating force in the electoral process. Welcoming the delegations in the talks, the president said elections are an important process in a democratic manner and the role of the Election Commission is very important to ensure a free, fair and acceptable poll. Read: Another Qwwali programme held at TSC to protest attack  The valuable opinions as well as recommendations of the political parties with regarding the formation of election commission would play a fruitful role, the Head of the State hoped. Hamid sought a very proactive role of the country's political parties to create conducive environment in politics and motivate the voters to ensure fair and credible polls.  Ruling party Bangladesh Awami League will hold a dialogue with the President on January 17 at 4 pm, as the last party in the list. The current EC's five-year tenure is set to expire on February 14.