New Charter to Fulfil Public Aspiration: Ali Riaz

Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission Prof Ali Riaz said on Tuesday that the public aspiration for state reform could be fulfilled through the preparation of a new national charter.

The new national charter will fulfill the reform aspirations of people,” he said while addressing a dialogue between the commission and Nationalist Democratic Movement (NDM).

An eight-member NDM delegation, led by its Chairman Bobby Hajjaj, joined the talks chaired by Prof Ali Riaz at the LD hall of the Jatiya Sangsad complex.

Noting that the goal of the commission and political parties is one, Prof Riaz said, “We all are trying to formulate a national charter by finding a specific path for state reform."

He said there may be further differences of opinion on the way to destination, but those can be overcome through negotiations. “We can continue to uphold and further strengthen the unity that enabled us to defeat the fascist regime," said Prof Riaz.

Later, the commission held two separate discussions with two more political parties with the Bangladesh Biplobi Communist League and Ganatantrik Biplobi Party there.

Biplobi Communist League general secretary Iqbal Karim Jahid led his party team during the talks, while Ganatantrik Biplobi Party general secretary Moshrefa Mishu led her party delegation in the discussion.

During the discussions, Prof Riaz said the tenure of the consensus commission will expire on July 15 next. “We want to create a national charter in the shortest possible time, which depends on the cooperation of political parties. So far, we have received unprecedented, unimaginable and incredible cooperation from the political parties,” he said.

The National Consensus Commission, formed under the leadership of Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, aims to establish a unified stance on critical reforms. Since its inception on February 15, 2025, the commission has been working to finalize recommendations for the state reform proposals.

In the initial phase, key recommendations from five reform commissions — covering constitutional, public administration, electoral system, judiciary, and anti-corruption reforms — were compiled and shared with 39 political parties for their feedbacks. To date, 34 parties have responded.

On March 20 last, the Consensus Commission opened the dialogue and already held talks with 11 political parties.

The next dialogue will be held with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on April 17.