The BNP on Tuesday reiterated its demand that only the national election be held under a non-party caretaker government and supports the 90-day tenure for such a non-party election-time government.
“Our party does not seek to bring local government elections under the caretaker government framework,” said BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed during the lunch break of the second phase of talks with the National Consensus Commission, held at the Foreign Service Academy.
“BNP believes the tenure of the caretaker government should not exceed three months, although the Commission has proposed four months,” he added.
Addressing Article 70 of the Constitution, Salahuddin said the BNP has proposed that MPs be allowed to vote across party lines, except in matters involving a vote of no confidence, the finance bill, constitutional amendments, and national security issues.
“If a wartime situation arises, MPs should be able to vote on it as a matter of national security. This needs to be explicitly included in Article 70,” he said.
He further noted that the party disagrees with the proposal to have all parliamentary standing committees chaired by opposition MPs.
“Some committees may be led by opposition members, but appointing opposition MPs as heads of all committees is not a practical solution,” said the BNP leader.
Tuesday’s session of the second round of talks began at 11am, chaired by Commission Vice-Chairman Prof Ali Riaz. Nearly 30 parties, including the BNP, Jamaat, and the National Citizen Party (NCP), took part in the session.
On Monday, Chief Adviser and Commission Chairman Prof Muhammad Yunus officially opened the second phase of the dialogue.
The Consensus Commission began its first round of discussions with political parties on March 20, aiming to forge a national consensus on key state reform initiatives introduced by the interim government.
