Staff Reporter:
BNP Standing Committee Member Salauddin Ahmed has said that his party will again hold talks with the National Consensus Commission over the constitutional reform on Sunday to accelerate the national election process.
“We agree with 25 proposals placed by the Constitution Reform Commission for constitutional reforms, but we will hold the next course of talks on the issue on Sunday,” Salauddin told reporters on Thursday.
Top BNP leaders held a meeting with the National Consensus Commission at the LD Hall of the Parliament Complex this noon to discuss constitutional reforms to establish an everlasting democratic process in the country.
After emerging from the six-hour-long meeting, Salauddin said that the spreadsheet of the National Consensus Commission contained 70 recommendations, though the commission’s detailed report included 131 proposals.
“We are holding topic-based discussions and the issues, including the preamble to the constitution, the republic and the fundamental principles of the state, are being discussed in phases,” he said.
“We agreed on 25 proposals, partially on 25, while we failed to reach consensus on other recommendations. We are seriously trying to understand the significance of the agenda on a logical basis,” said the BNP leader.
The commission is holding the 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.
The BNP delegation joined the talks around 10:35 am with Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission Prof Ali Riaz in the chair.
Earlier in the day, a BNP delegation, led by its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, met Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and expressed its dissatisfaction about the outcomes of the meeting as the Chief Adviser did not give them any specific deadline for the election.
On March 20 last, 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 Prof Muhammad Yunus, aims to establish a unified stance on critical reforms. Since its inception on February 15, 2025, the commission has been working to finalise recommendations for the 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 their feedback. To date, 34 parties have responded.
The National Consensus Commission is working to build a national consensus over reform initiatives by mid-July next, by completing the first round of talks with political parties by the first week of May next and entering the second round of talks in the second week of May.
