Akhtar Hossain, member secretary of the National Citizen Party (NCP), has said the BNP’s refusal to accept non-partisan appointments to constitutional institutions is incomprehensible.
Speaking to the media during an intermission at the 20th round of the second phase of meetings of the National Consensus Commission with political parties, held on Monday afternoon, at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, he said that since the party agrees with the process of forming the Election Commission, it should also support the constitutional appointment of other bodies.
Akhtar said: “We are not talking about interference in the executive branch. We are advocating for neutrality in constitutional institutions. Statutory bodies must operate autonomously, without interference from the executive. For some reason, the BNP refuses to understand this.”
He added that due to partisan appointments, constitutional bodies are failing to maintain their independence and face numerous limitations as a result.
Akhtar further said the BNP has failed to come to power over the past one and a half decades due to one-sided elections. “That is why they only support neutrality in the Election Commission, but not in other bodies such as the Bangladesh Public Service Commission, the Comptroller and Auditor General, or the Ombudsman. This is not acceptable,” he said.
He also thanked the BNP for returning to the meeting after an earlier walkout.
