Staff Correspondent:

Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission Prof Ali Riaz said on Monday that the commission aims to build national consensus on reform initiatives by mid-July.

“The Commission’s target is to complete our responsibility within the stipulated timeframe of mid-July next,” he said.

Prof Riaz made the comments during his introductory speech at a meeting between the Commission and the AB Party, held at the Jatiya Sangsad Complex.

The AB Party delegation, led by its Chairman Mujibur Rahman Manju, participated in the dialogue.

Prof Riaz highlighted that the National Consensus Commission has already received feedback from 29 political parties regarding reform recommendations.

The Commission began dialogues with political parties before Independence Day and held talks with four parties prior to Eid-ul-Fitr.

“We expect that we will be able to complete the first round talks with political parties and political alliances by first week of May,” Prof Riaz said.

He said the Commission plans to enter the second round of discussions in the second week of May, though there might be varying views and clarifications regarding the reform recommendations.

Prof Riaz mentioned that the Commission will also seek input from the general public in addition to political parties.

AB Party Chairman Mujibur Rahman Manju stated that his party agrees with 108 out of 166 recommendations put forward by the National Consensus Commission. Additionally, the party partially agrees with 26 recommendations and disagrees with 32.

The commission has focused on key recommendations from the reports of five reform commissions – the Constitution Reform Commission, the Public Administration Reform Commission, the Electoral System Reform Commission, the Judiciary Reform Commission, and the ACC Reform Commission – to gather opinions from political parties.

The commission had earlier sent a set of reform recommendations in a spreadsheet format to 38 political parties, requesting their specific opinions by March 13.