Staff Correspondent:

Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission Professor Ali Riaz on Wednesday said there is no disagreement among political parties regarding the reinstatement of the caretaker government system.

“There is a clear and specific consensus on this issue (caretaker issue),” he told reporters during a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, following the eighth day of the second phase of dialogues between the Commission and political parties.

Ali Riaz said discussions on the formation, structure and jurisdiction of the caretaker government took place on Wednesday with political parties moving significantly closer through open and detailed dialogue.

Apart from the caretaker issue, the demarcation of electoral constituencies was also discussed. “On this matter too, a notable consensus has been reached,” he said.

He said the parties agreed on taking both immediate and long-term measures for constituency delimitation.

As an immediate measure, an expert committee — comprising individuals with appropriate expertise —will be formed (or modified if already in place) with assistance from the Election Commission to determine parliamentary constituencies for the upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election, based on the committee’s recommendations.

On long-term arrangements, Riaz said a provision will be added to the end of Article 119(1)(g) of the Constitution—after the word “and”—stating that “an expert committee will be formed by law” to revise parliamentary boundaries after every census or within a maximum of 10 years.

The structure and responsibilities of this committee will be defined by amending Section 8(3) of the National Parliament (Constituency Demarcation) Act, 2021, revised in 2025.

Representatives from 30 political parties, including BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizens’ Party (NCP), Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ganasamhati Andolon, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Revolutionary Workers Party, and Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party, took part in today’s dialogue.

Commission members present at the dialogue included Justice Md Emdadul Haque, Safar Raj Hossain, Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, Dr Md Aiyub Miah and Monir Haidar, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser.

Wednesday’s discussions also covered the appointment process of constitutional and statutory bodies and the election procedure for an upper chamber.

The next round of talks with political parties will be held on Thursday (July 3) at 10:30am.