The interim government has formed a seven-member ‘national consensus commission’ in a bid to build a consensus of political parties and forces on the recommendations submitted by six reform commissions.
The commission headed by chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus would begin work on February 15, a circular issued by the cabinet division Wednesday evening said.
Constitution reform commission chief Professor Ali Riaz was made the vice-president of the newly formed commission while public administration reform commission chief Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury, police reform commission chief Safar Raj Hossain, electoral reform commission chief Badiul Alam Majumder, judiciary reform commission member Justice Emdadul Hoque and Anti-Corruption Commission reform commission chief Iftekharuzzaman were made members of the Yunus-led commission.
According to the circular, the national consensus commission, within its six-month tenure, would hold discussions with political parties and forces and reach a consensus on reforms in electoral, police activities, judiciary, public administration, constitution, and anti-corruption drives.
‘The goal of the national consensus commission is to prepare a national charter agreed by the majority of the country’s political parties,’ said Ali Riaz on Thursday, while addressing a press conference on behalf of the constitution reform commission at Parliament premises in Dhaka.
The constitution reform commission chief said that the basis of the discussions would be the six reform commissions’ recommendations that were made public on February 8.
Replying to a question on what would be the immediate measures for the reforms in the constitution, he said that the constitution would be reformed step-by-step, instead of piecemeal solutions, following discussions with political parties.
The constitution reform commission recommended pluralism as one of the state’s fundamental principles and, Ali Riaz, as the commission chief, reminded that the state’s responsibility was to recognise and accommodate a maximum number of diversified thoughts, beliefs and views that exist in the country.
Regarding the recommendations for keeping state religion and, at the same time, pluralism in the constitution, he said, ‘The commission members had divided opinions about state religion. But we still considered going with it because of the contemporary political trends and feedback from the majority of political parties and common people.’
He said that they recommended lowering the eligibility age for contesting parliamentary elections from 25 years to 21 years to encourage young people to participate in policymaking.
Ali Riaz said that the constitution reform commission recommended a national constitutional council to ensure the accountability of both the treasury and opposition parties and to prevent autocracy in the future.
Constitution reform commission members Dhaka University’s law teachers Professor Sumaiya Khair and Professor Muhammad Ekramul Haque, lawyers Imran Siddique, Sharif Bhuiyan and Moin Alam Ferozi and writers Firoz Ahmed Md Mustahin Billah were also present.
