Consensus talks caught up in deepening rifts

Political parties have remained sharply divided over selection of chief advisers to caretaker governments and women's representation in parliament two days before the end of deadline for consensus.

Although political parties have largely agreed on the need for a non-partisan election-time caretaker government, division over the key issues resurfaced during the 21st day of the second phase of talks at the Foreign Service Academy yesterday.

While briefing reporters after the discussions, National Consensus Commission Vice-President Prof Ali Riaz said that two-thirds of the political parties have agreed with the commission's proposals regarding the selection of the chief adviser.

"As disagreements remain over the selection of the chief adviser, we are now giving them [parties] time until tomorrow to reconsider, and then the commission will finalise its decision regarding the matter. Even after the final decision, if any party wants to give a note of dissent, they can," he said.

At the opening session, he reminded all that they had only three days left, including yesterday, before issuing a July National Charter. "The charter must be finalised by July 31, incorporating all the points where consensus has been established."

PICKING CA

On the chief adviser issue, the commission yesterday reiterated its proposal that a five-member selection panel will choose the caretaker government head from a list of 12 people nominated by the ruling party, the main opposition and the second-largest opposition. The selection panel will include the prime minister, Leader of the Opposition in parliament, Speaker, deputy Speaker (from the opposition), and a representative of the second-largest opposition party.

Each major bloc will choose one nominee from the other's list, and one from the smaller parties' list. The nominee receiving the most selections will become chief adviser.

If consensus is not reached, then the person supported by four out of the five members shall be nominated as the chief adviser of the next caretaker government.

If a chief adviser cannot still be selected, two judges -- one from the Appellate Division and one from the High Court -- would be added to the body, creating a seven-member panel empowered to resolve the matter through ranked-choice voting.

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed objected to the inclusion of the judges and ranked-choice voting. He proposed that, in case of a deadlock, the matter be referred to parliament and let the MPs decide on the issue.

The Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) strongly opposed the BNP's stance, warning that such a move would politicise the process and risk prolonged uncertainty.

Jamaat and NCP have supported the inclusion of new members and subsequent process, arguing that the inclusion of judges will prevent partisan domination and ensure neutrality.

"We believe ranked-choice voting is more effective than referring the issue to parliament, where a decision would be far more difficult," said NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossen.

Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher added, "The inclusion of the judges is to ensure no single party becomes the deciding factor. We hope the judges will remain neutral and reduce the risk of horse-trading."

Earlier, the commission placed at least four formulas on how to appoint the chief adviser, amid persistent deadlock. On July 13, it had proposed a 13-member search committee. Earlier suggestions included a seven-member panel and an 11-member parliamentary committee, and even a return to the model under the 13th amendment that allowed the appointment of the last retired chief justice as chief adviser.

WOMEN'S SEATS

Disagreement also flared over the structure and modality of women's reserved seats in parliament and their nominations in the election.

The commission proposed keeping the existing 50 reserved seats while urging parties to nominate women in at least one-fourth or one-fifth of the 300 general seats.

The BNP proposed another approach: nominating women in at least 5 percent of the general seats in the next election and increasing the share to 10 percent in the following ones. "This would ensure 80 seats for women when combined with the existing 50 reserved seats. This can begin as a gentleman's agreement and be formalised later," said Salahuddin.

But the NCP demanded direct elections to 100 seats for women under a rotating system, where 100 constituencies would be chosen for women in every general election.

The Jamaat proposed expanding parliament to 400 seats -- 300 general and 100 for women -- with the women's share determined proportionally based on party votes under a proportional representation (PR) system.

Several other Islamic parties also backed an increase in women's seats to 100. They, too, want the election through the PR system.

However, Prof Riaz said that all the parties agreed that the women's seats need to be increased to 100.

"As consensus could not be reached regarding the election process of the women's seats, the commission will finalise the decision regarding the issue today," he said.

On July 14, the commission proposed abolishment of the current system of reserving seats for women. It recommended that parties contesting for at least 25 constituencies nominate women in one-third of these seats under the first-past-the-post system, where the highest vote-getter wins.

This issue has been discussed repeatedly during the reform talks, but parties remained divided.

Initially, the commission had proposed increasing the number of reserved seats for women from 50 to 100 and suggested direct elections to these seats.

Besides women's seats and chief adviser's selection, no consensus was reached regarding the inclusion of the process to appoint the Comptroller General of Audit and an Ombudsman to the constitution.

Most of the parties, except the BNP and its allies, are in favour of the commission's proposal to include these to the constitution.