Tuesday, 15 July, 2025
Despite extensive discussions, political parties have failed to reach a consensus on two key issues: women’s representation in Parliament and the formation of a bicameral legislature.
Professor Ali Riaz, Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission, shared the update on Monday following a meeting with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
“Women’s representation in Parliament and the structure of a bicameral legislature have been discussed several times. While there has been some initial support, methodological disagreements have prevented any final agreement,” he told reporters.
The commission had initially proposed increasing the number of reserved seats for women, as outlined in Article 65 of the Constitution, from 50 to 100. Although many parties backed the idea in principle, differences emerged over how the candidates for these seats should be selected.
One proposal called for filling the 100 seats through direct elections. Another suggested expanding the current system of proportional representation to cover the additional seats. Due to the lack of agreement, the commission introduced an alternative idea: requiring any political party that fields candidates in more than 25 constituencies to ensure that at least one-third of its candidates are women. However, this proposal also failed to gain consensus.
The second major topic of discussion was the creation of a bicameral Parliament. The commission proposed establishing a 400-seat lower house and a 100-seat upper house. While nearly two-thirds of the participating political parties had previously supported the concept, disagreement remains over how the upper chamber should be formed.
“Some argue that representation in the upper house should be based on the number of seats a party holds in Parliament,” Riaz explained. “Others believe it should reflect the proportion of national votes secured by each party, which aligns with the commission’s recommendation. But consensus remains elusive.”
He added that dialogue will continue in an effort to agree on an acceptable model. “We will resume discussions on these issues tomorrow,” he said.
Professor Riaz also noted that discussions on the formation of a caretaker government, originally scheduled for Tuesday, have been postponed. “Some political parties have already submitted written proposals on the caretaker model, and the commission will review them separately on Wednesday or Thursday,” he said.
He expressed hope that the ongoing dialogue would result in a National Charter by July, offering a unified framework for moving forward before the next general election.
“We are optimistic that, with the cooperation of all political parties, the dialogue will end successfully and deliver an acceptable national framework,” he said.
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters that his party supports “realistic, step-by-step reforms” to increase women’s representation and to consider, cautiously, the introduction of an upper house.
“We are committed to women’s empowerment and broader political inclusion,” he said. “We’ve proposed raising the number of reserved seats for women to 100, but they should be filled through elections in accordance with the Constitution.”
However, Salahuddin warned against sudden structural changes. “It’s not practical to delimit 100 new parliamentary seats overnight. There is also confusion surrounding the rotation mechanism and how the reserved constituencies would be defined.”
He referred to a new proposal floated during the meeting which suggested a 76-member upper house: 64 members elected from the districts and 12 from city corporations. But he questioned its feasibility. “City corporations already have elected officials—how can those same representatives serve in a second chamber? The same issue applies to the districts. If these 76 individuals form a new Parliament, what powers would they hold? This is not a viable model.”
National Citizen Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain also spoke to the press after Monday’s meeting, the 13th day of the second phase of political dialogue. He stated that the NCP supports ensuring 100 directly elected women MPs.
“The Constitution currently provides for 50 reserved seats for women, but the Consensus Commission proposed that political parties field at least 33 per cent women among their total candidates,” he said. “However, the parties did not support this idea.”
He added, “Although no procedural agreement has yet been reached, the NCP remains committed to the principle that 100 women should contest elections and be directly elected to serve in Parliament.”
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Despite extensive discussions, political parties have failed to reach a consensus on two key issues: women’s representation in Parliament and the formation of a bicameral legislature.
Professor Ali Riaz, Vice-Chairman of the National Consensus Commission, shared the update on Monday following a meeting with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
“Women’s representation in Parliament and the structure of a bicameral legislature have been discussed several times. While there has been some initial support, methodological disagreements have prevented any final agreement,” he told reporters.
The commission had initially proposed increasing the number of reserved seats for women, as outlined in Article 65 of the Constitution, from 50 to 100. Although many parties backed the idea in principle, differences emerged over how the candidates for these seats should be selected.
One proposal called for filling the 100 seats through direct elections. Another suggested expanding the current system of proportional representation to cover the additional seats. Due to the lack of agreement, the commission introduced an alternative idea: requiring any political party that fields candidates in more than 25 constituencies to ensure that at least one-third of its candidates are women. However, this proposal also failed to gain consensus.
The second major topic of discussion was the creation of a bicameral Parliament. The commission proposed establishing a 400-seat lower house and a 100-seat upper house. While nearly two-thirds of the participating political parties had previously supported the concept, disagreement remains over how the upper chamber should be formed.
“Some argue that representation in the upper house should be based on the number of seats a party holds in Parliament,” Riaz explained. “Others believe it should reflect the proportion of national votes secured by each party, which aligns with the commission’s recommendation. But consensus remains elusive.”
He added that dialogue will continue in an effort to agree on an acceptable model. “We will resume discussions on these issues tomorrow,” he said.
Professor Riaz also noted that discussions on the formation of a caretaker government, originally scheduled for Tuesday, have been postponed. “Some political parties have already submitted written proposals on the caretaker model, and the commission will review them separately on Wednesday or Thursday,” he said.
He expressed hope that the ongoing dialogue would result in a National Charter by July, offering a unified framework for moving forward before the next general election.
“We are optimistic that, with the cooperation of all political parties, the dialogue will end successfully and deliver an acceptable national framework,” he said.
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters that his party supports “realistic, step-by-step reforms” to increase women’s representation and to consider, cautiously, the introduction of an upper house.
“We are committed to women’s empowerment and broader political inclusion,” he said. “We’ve proposed raising the number of reserved seats for women to 100, but they should be filled through elections in accordance with the Constitution.”
However, Salahuddin warned against sudden structural changes. “It’s not practical to delimit 100 new parliamentary seats overnight. There is also confusion surrounding the rotation mechanism and how the reserved constituencies would be defined.”
He referred to a new proposal floated during the meeting which suggested a 76-member upper house: 64 members elected from the districts and 12 from city corporations. But he questioned its feasibility. “City corporations already have elected officials—how can those same representatives serve in a second chamber? The same issue applies to the districts. If these 76 individuals form a new Parliament, what powers would they hold? This is not a viable model.”
National Citizen Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain also spoke to the press after Monday’s meeting, the 13th day of the second phase of political dialogue. He stated that the NCP supports ensuring 100 directly elected women MPs.
“The Constitution currently provides for 50 reserved seats for women, but the Consensus Commission proposed that political parties field at least 33 per cent women among their total candidates,” he said. “However, the parties did not support this idea.”
He added, “Although no procedural agreement has yet been reached, the NCP remains committed to the principle that 100 women should contest elections and be directly elected to serve in Parliament.”
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