Consensus commission revises National Constitutional Council

The National Consensus Commission is set to present a revised name and structure for the proposed National Constitutional Council (NCC) to the political parties.

According to the commission, the NCC, to be renamed as the Appointment Committee for Constitutional and Statutory Bodies, will now exclude the president and chief justice as its members.

The council will comprise the prime minister, speakers of both the lower and upper houses, leader of the opposition, one representative from parties other than the main opposition, a representative of the president (with qualifications to be determined by law), and a nominee of the chief justice from the Appellate Division.

The speaker of the lower house will chair the committee meetings.

Commission Vice-Chairman Ali Riaz presented the revised proposals before the political parties during a dialogue session that began from 11:00am today.

While the commission's initial draft had proposed "equality, human dignity, social justice, and democracy" as the core principles of the state, the revised version now includes religious freedom and communal harmony as foundational principles --- topics on which political parties will deliberate.

The initial proposal for the NCC was opposed by the BNP, while Jamaat-e-Islami had suggested removing the president and chief justice from the council.

Several other parties also proposed alternative names and structures for the NCC.

In response, the commission will now present the new version to political parties.

The earlier proposal from the commission had included the appointment of the attorney general and chiefs of the three Armed Forces through the NCC and said that the council would remain effective even during caretaker governments.

However, due to opposition from political parties, the commission has now backed away from those positions, clarified Ali Riaz.

The BNP has consistently expressed disagreement with the idea of the NCC. Even after the revised proposal was introduced, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said that the party still does not agree with it.

So far, aside from BNP, only the Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM) has expressed opposition.

Parties such as LDP, CPB, BASAD, AB Party, Nagorik Oikya, and Biplobi Workers Party have expressed consensus on the proposal.

The matter is set to be further discussed in today's session.