No More Times in Hand, Ali Riaz Urges Speedy Preparing July Charter

National Consensus Commission Vice President Ali Riaz said a quick decision has to be taken on July Charter as time to reach a consensus is short. The process would not be expedited if a consensus cannot be reached on certain issues.

Ali Riaz made this remark during the opening speech of the consensus commission’s dialogue with political parties. Discussions are being on Monday, for the 16th day of the second phase at the Foreign Service Academy. The agenda of today’s meeting is fundamental principles of state and the issue of the prime minister holding of multiple posts simultaneously.

Ali Riaz has called upon political parties to reach a swift decision on implementing the July Charter within the next 10 days. Decisions must be made on key issues. If there is any disagreement from any party, that must be informed. It will also be noted in the charter.

Addressing the political parties, Ali Riaz said, “Remember the Liberation War, the 53 years of struggle, and the bloodshed and loss of life during last year’s unprecedented mass uprising. We must move forward keeping those in mind. There is no turning back from that. There is no way to sidestep those events.”

Ali Riaz remarked that nothing is being imposed on political parties by force. “We have not, and will not, forcefully impose anything. But we have presented the issues we believe are crucial for restructuring the state framework. Considering those, we hope to reach a consensus within the next 10 days and formulate a national charter.”

Monday’s discussion included participation from 30 political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Citizen Party (NCP), Islami Andolan, the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), and Ganosamhati Andolan.

The meeting was moderated by Monir Haider, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser of the interim government. Also present were members of the National Consensus Commission- Safar Raj Hossain, Justice Emdadul Haque, Badiul Alam Majumdar, Iftekharuzzaman, and Ayub Miah.