Vice-Chair of the National Consensus Commission (NCC) Prof Dr Ali Riaz on Sunday urged political parties to protect and continue their unity and cooperation to reach a conclusion on the implementation of the National July Charter, saying fascist forces and their allies are still trying to thwart the state reform process.
“Still, some things remain undone. We will definitely be able to reach a final conclusion in the coming months by continuing and protecting the trend of cooperation among political parties, which was created in the past,” he said.
Prof Riaz made the comment while delivering his introductory speech at the talks between the NCC and political parties on the implementation of the National Charter, held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka. Chief Adviser and NCC Chair Prof Muhammad Yunus was present at the talks, which started on Sunday afternoon.
The NCC expects political parties to uphold the spirit of unity, he said, adding: “We must protect, continue and move forward this unity to advance the achievements we have gained in the last two rounds of dialogues and the current talks. We think this will be identified as a milestone in terms of the change in the political culture of Bangladesh.”
The NCC vice-chair said the national charter is an outcome of collective efforts. “It is a document of unity among the politicians of Bangladesh. This charter is a continuation of the unity that defeated fascism and fascist forces. We will have to march forward, keeping up this continuation.”
Focusing on the reform commitment, Prof Riaz said that the transformation towards democracy means building an accountable state where citizens’ human dignity is protected and social justice ensured.
“We all are committed to establishing such a state. We will have to implement it. The national charter is a guideline for this commitment and the way to implement it,” he said.
Prof Riaz warned that the defeated fascist forces and their allies still want the reform efforts to fail. “They repeatedly tried and they still want this process to be a failed venture. But our liability to the blood that brought us here is to make this process successful,” he said.
The NCC has so far held three rounds of dialogue with political parties — from March 20 to May 19, from June 2 to July 30, and now the third round on the implementation of the charter.
Prof Riaz also thanked political leaders for maintaining tolerance toward dissenting opinions and showing respect toward one another during the talks.