Zakir Hossain / Dhaka
Deepening divisions among Bangladesh’s major political parties are obstructing progress within the National Consensus Commission (NCC), which is tasked with forging agreement on crucial constitutional reforms ahead of the next elections.
The NCC has failed to reach a consensus on three major issues: the appointment of a caretaker government during polls, the creation of an upper house in parliament, and the electoral process for 100 reserved seats for women. The second round of dialogue has stalled due to differences between parties, particularly over the selection process for the Chief Adviser to the caretaker government.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami submitted nearly identical proposals, but opposing views from the National Citizen Party (NCP) and others have blocked a resolution. The Commission aims to build consensus on 19 key reforms by July 31 in order to draft a national reform charter.
Another contentious issue is whether one individual should be allowed to simultaneously hold multiple top posts—Prime Minister, Leader of the House, and party chief. BNP supports the status quo, while the NCC recommends restricting it to a single position, backed by NCP and others. Jamaat favors allowing two positions but opposes control of all three.
BNP has differences with Jamaat, NCP, and Islami Andolan over the sequencing of reforms. While BNP demands quick elections, the others insist reforms must come first.
The infighting among factions that jointly backed student protests and Muhammad Yunus in ousting the Awami League government has now spilled into rallies and social media, weakening the fragile political consensus.