The interim government wants opinion of political parties on some 120 points, aiming at building national consensus. In the meantime, the National Consensus Commission (NCC) has issued letter to 34 political parties to clear their stance on these things.
These 120 points were determined based on recommendations of electoral, judiciary, constitutional, public administration and anti-corruption commission reform commission. The letter sent to political parties has revealed this information.
A letter signed by the vice-chairman of the NCC, Professor Ali Riaz, along with the report and recommendation file of the Reform Commissions and a separate spreadsheet for opinions have been sent to the top leaders of the political parties.
The letter states that the commission, formed under the chairmanship of Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus, started its work on 15th of February.
According to the letter, the reports of six reform commissions that were formed in the first phase have been sent to parties and parties have been asked to submit their specific opinions on these points by 13th of March.
The government will begin the reform process through discussions based on the opinions of the parties.
Talking to political leaders it was learnt that some political parties have already asked for additional time from the consensus commission, resulting a delay in the submitting their opinion in the given timeframe.
In the first case, in the consensus commission's spreadsheet, parties asked to put tick mark beside the given options- agree, partly agree and disagree- for each point.
In the second case, the commission has asked for opinions by leaving six options on the timing and means of implementation of the reforms.
The options are- 1) Through an ordinance before the elections, 2) Through a referendum before the elections, 3) Through a referendum during the elections, 4) Through the Constituent Assembly, 5) Through constitutional reforms after the elections and 6) Through the parliament elected as the Constituent Assembly and the Legislative Assembly. Here too, political parties will express their opinions by ticking any one of them.
23 points from constitutional reform commission’s report
Citizenship, Basic Principles of the Constitution, Basic Principles of the State, Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, Legislative Assembly, Lower House, Upper House, Constitutional Amendments, International Agreements, Impeachment, Executive, National Constitutional Council, President, Prime Minister, Interim Government, Chief Adviser, Judiciary, Supreme Court, Subordinate Courts, Local Government, Permanent Attorney Service, Constitutional Commissions and Miscellaneous.
27 points from electoral reform commission’s report
Formation of the EC, National Constitutional Council, term of the Prime Minister, disqualification of former two-term Prime Ministers from the post of President, barring them from being party chief, barring them from being Prime Minister and Leader of Parliament simultaneously, 6 points on elections to the upper house of Parliament, 2 points on representation of women in parliamentary elections, 2 points on presidential elections, 3 points on Deputy Speaker, caretaker government system, local government elections, delimitation of parliamentary constituencies, transfer of responsibility for local government elections to the Election Commission, 2 points on the accountability of the EC, registration of political parties and eligibility and disqualification of candidates.
24 points from judiciary reform commission’s report
Appointment of the Chief Justice (Chapter Three), Determination of the number of judges of the Supreme Court (SC), Appointment of judges of the SC, Power of the Supreme Judicial Council to conduct investigations on its own initiative or on the orders of the President, Formulation of a code of conduct for serving judges of the SC, Formulation of a code of conduct for former judges of the SC and consequences of violating it, Amendment of the rules relating to the employment of judges of subordinate courts, Establishment of the SC Secretariat, Decentralization of the High Court Division, Upazila-level courts, Attorney Service, Demonstration of the President's power, Independent Criminal Investigation Service, Amendment of the Constitution (Chapter 10), Increase in the manpower and scope of subordinate courts (Chapter 11), Financial independence of the judiciary, Development of the management of the Supreme Court and subordinate courts, Prevention of corruption in the judiciary, Legal aid, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Reform of the legal profession, Freeing the judiciary from political influence (Chapter 29) Two points.
26 points from public administration reform commission’s report
Formation of a permanent Public Administration Reform Commission, Right to Information Act, Official Secrets Act, formation of a Citizens' Committee, formation of two new divisions, change of titles of Deputy Commissioner and Upazila Executive Officer, providing power to District Magistrate to take cases, establishment of Magistrate Court at Upazila level, Upazila Public Safety Officer, reorganization of Public Service Commission, redefinition of the scope of work of Upazila Executive Officer, abolition of Superior Selection Board and formation of Cabinet Committee for appointment of Secretaries and formation of Superior Executive Service, formation of an independent investigation commission, appointment of opposition party MPs as chairpersons in the standing committees of Parliament, introduction of provincial governance system, abolition of District Council, strengthening of Municipalities, Capital City Government or Capital Metropolitan Government, two points on strengthening Upazila Council, reform of Union Council, strengthening of the office of Comptroller and Auditor General, two points on procedural reforms to ensure accountability in public administration, voluntary retirement after completing 15 years of service, Private Secretary to Ministers and State Ministers (PS/Assistant Private Secretary) posting.
20 points from ACC reform commission’s report
Amendment to Article 20(2) of the Constitution, Constitutional recognition of the ACC, National Anti-Corruption Strategy, Formulation of National Anti-Corruption Strategy Paper, Ombudsman for implementation, Permanently ending the practice of legalizing income without legal sources, Formulation of laws on resolving and preventing conflicts of interest, Legal reforms on beneficial ownership, Ensuring transparency and integrity in political and electoral financing, Phased complete end-to-end automation of the service sector, Bringing bribery transactions in the private sector under punishment, Legal reforms to implement the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) to ensure transparency in financial transactions, Increasing the number of commissioners to five by amending Section 5(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004, Amendment of Section 8(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004, Amending Section 6(2) of the ACC Act 2004 and fixing the term of the commission to four years, Section 6(1) of the ACC Act 2004 should be amended to change the name of the selection committee to 'Selection and Review Committee', Sections 7(1) to 7(5) of the ACC Act 2004 should be amended to form the proposed selection and review committee, determine the responsibilities of the selection and review committee, determine the selection and review procedure, delete Section 32A of the ACC Act, amend Section 309 of the Income Tax Act 2023 to ensure that this section will not apply to any information or documents requested by the ACC, and become a party to the OGP on a state-by-state basis.
Translated by AM
