The initial round of discussions between political parties and the National Consensus Commission, aimed at building agreement on reform issues, has concluded.
The first phase ended on Monday with an extended meeting between the commission and the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), reports Bangla Tribune.
The meeting was attended by Prof Ali Riaz, vice president of the National Consensus Commission, along with commission members Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, Safar Raj Hossain, Justice Md Emdadul Haque, Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Md Ayub Miah, and Chief Adviser's Special Assistant Monir Haider.
Ali said: “Today (Monday) marks the conclusion of the first round of talks with political parties that began two months ago. Through these continued dialogues, we have reached a consensus on several issues, while differing opinions remain on others.
"The second round of discussions will begin very soon, during which we will address the disagreements issue by issue, aiming to expedite the formulation of a national charter.”
The CPB delegation was led by General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince and included Presidium Member Aniruddha Das Anjan, Assistant General Secretary Mihir Ghosh, as well as central committee members Advocate Hasan Tarique Chowdhury, Abid Hossain, Advocate Anwar Hossain Reza, and Luna Noor.
Notably, the National Consensus Commission was formed under the leadership of Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus, with the goal of forging national consensus on reform issues.
The commission began its activities on February 15 and formally launched the dialogue process on March 20 through talks with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Since then, the commission has held discussions with 33 political parties, including the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), Gono Odhikar Parishad, Gono Songhoti Andolon, and the Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party.