The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has accused the National Consensus Commission of creating confusion regarding its proposed reforms.
On Thursday, April 17, around 10:30 AM, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed made the remarks while speaking to journalists during a break in a meeting between the BNP delegation and the National Consensus Commission at the National Parliament building.
Salahuddin Ahmed said, “They have misled us through a reform spreadsheet. It does not align with the main discussion. While the spreadsheet lists around 70 proposals, the main report actually contains nearly 123 recommendations.”
Another BNP Standing Committee member, Nazrul Islam Khan, said, “Even if the National Consensus Commission doesn’t have a charter, BNP has a 31-point charter for reform. That is our guiding document. So we are in favor of reform. But we want to emphasize one thing: at the heart of everything is the people. Everything must be done with the people’s consent—and we know through whom the people express that consent.”
Earlier that morning, a bilateral meeting between the BNP delegation and the National Consensus Commission began at the LD Hall of the National Parliament. The BNP delegation was led by Standing Committee members Salahuddin Ahmed and Nazrul Islam Khan, along with the party chairperson’s advisers Ismail Zabihullah and Ruhul Quddus Kajol.
The meeting was moderated by the Chief Advisor’s Special Assistant, Monir Haider. Other participants included Commission members Soffor Raj Hossain, Justice Emdadul Haque, Badiul Alam Majumdar, and Dr. Iftekharuzzaman.
In his opening remarks, American citizen Ali Riaz stated, “Our aim is to draft a national charter through which we can establish a permanent democratic system in Bangladesh.”
