The BNP, on Thursday, told the National Consensus Commission that the party is not against reforms but wants to utilize the opportunity created for reforms, reported UNB.
“We have another opportunity before us and we want to seize it. We are cooperating with this commission and this government with that expectation in mind,” said BNP Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan.
The BNP leader made the remarks during his opening speech during its dialogue with the National Consensus Commission in the LD Hall of parliament.
The party also informed the commission that it agreed with 25 of the 131 recommendations made by the commission, partially agreed with 25 others, and had objections to the rest of the recommendations. BNP leaders criticized the spreadsheet sent by the commission, noting that it contained only 70 points, which they described as “misleading and confusing.”
The National Consensus Commission is holding talks as part of a series of dialogues with political parties to reach a national consensus over the state reform initiatives taken by the interim government.
A BNP delegation joined the talks, which started at 10:35am, with National Consensus Commission Vice Chairman Prof Ali Riaz presiding over it.
Pointing to the BNP's 31-point reform agenda, Nazrul said that even if the National Consensus Commission did not present a reform charter, the BNP already has its own.
“So we are in favour of it. We would like to say only one thing — that the people are at the root of everything. Everything should be done with the consent of the people. And we know through whom the people give their consent,” he said.
Referring to various reform initiatives taken by the BNP and its past governments, Nazrul said they told the chief adviser on Wednesday that no political party in Bangladesh has carried out more reforms than the BNP. “So the BNP is not against reform — it is a reform-oriented party,” he said.
BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed was among the members of the BNP delegation.
Speaking to journalists, Salah Uddin Ahmed said: “We are engaging in a dialogue over the core proposals for constitutional amendments. We are trying to present our points to the commission logically and expect well-founded explanations from them in return.”
He further stated: “There will be more discussions with the Commission if necessary. We are approaching this with a constructive mindset.”
A day earlier, a BNP delegation led by Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir met Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and later expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the meeting, as the chief adviser had not given them any specific deadline for the election.
On March 20, the National Consensus Commission opened its dialogues with political parties, aiming to build a national consensus on the reform initiatives undertaken by the interim government.
The commission has already held talks with 11 political parties.
The National Consensus Commission, formed under the leadership of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, aims to establish a unified stance on critical reforms.
Since its inception on February 15, the commission has been working to finalize recommendations for state reform proposals.
In the initial phase, key recommendations from five reform commissions — covering constitutional, public administration, electoral system, judiciary and anti-corruption reforms — were compiled and shared with 39 political parties for feedback.
To date, 34 parties have responded.
The National Consensus Commission aims to complete the first round of talks with political parties by the first week of May and enter the second round in the second week of May, with the goal of building a national consensus over reform initiatives by mid-July.
