National Consensus Commission Vice-Chairman Prof Ali Riaz on Tuesday said that almost three-fourths of political parties and alliances have agreed that the person holding the post of prime minister will not simultaneously hold the post of party chief.
Ali Riaz said this while briefing journalists after the 17th day of the second phase of the discussions of the commission with political parties at Foreign Service Academy.
Commission members Justice Md Emdadul Haque, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, Safar Raj Hossain, Dr Md. Ayub Mia and Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant Manir Haidar were present.
Stating that most political parties have agreed on this issue, he added that some parties and alliances have expressed their differences on this issue.
These parties and alliances will be able to give a "note of dissent" in the national charter.
Mentioning that all political parties have agreed on the re-establishment of the caretaker government, he said some further progress has been made in Tuesday's discussions with political parties on this issue.
“As per the decision of the meeting held on Sunday with the participation of political parties to reorganize the caretaker government system at the initiative of the Election Commission, the commission sent a revised and integrated proposal to all parties,” said Ali Riaz.
"In view of that proposal, the parties were asked to provide their opinions," he said, adding: "Today the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) agreed in principle with most of the proposals of the commission and presented their opinions."
Stating that various aspects of the proposal were discussed in detail through the day's discussions, he said: “However, no agreement could be reached on the use of the 'ranked choice' method yet.”
He expressed hope that a resolution on the issue could be reached through further discussions on Thursday.
The commission said that another discussion meeting will be held Wednesday morning to build consensus on the unresolved issues.