Ali Riaz hopes to reach final stage of July Charter by Thursday

National Consensus Commission Vice-Chairman Professor Ali Riaz has said all the issues on which consensus has been reached through talks should be finalised quickly.

He made the remark while delivering his speech at the beginning of the 21st day of the second phase of the commission's dialogue with the political parties at the Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday.

Prof Ali Riaz said they must reach a final stage of the July Charter by July 31 (Thursday). 

All the issues on which a consensus have been reached through long and continuous talks so far must be finalised, he said. 

"Our goal is to clearly include all the issues, on which consensus has been established, in the charter," he said.

The commission vice-chairman said they want to present a proposal at the meeting by integrating the opinions given by the political parties.

"Each party will have its own statement, and the commission is trying to move forward by accepting their proposals, considering the statements. This took a little longer, but the discussion will be much easier later," he said.

At the 20th meeting of the second phase, the commission handed over the draft of the July Charter to the representatives of the political parties. 

About the draft of the July Charter, Prof Ali Riaz said the commission expects comments on the draft charter from political parties by tomorrow. 

"And we hope that by taking into account all those comments, and beyond that, we will be able to convey all the issues, which have been agreed upon in the initial process, to the political parties by today or tomorrow. And maybe, by the day after tomorrow, we will reach a place for a charter," he said.

He expressed gratitude to the representatives of the political parties for their sincere efforts.

Representatives of 30 political parties, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP), Gono Odhikar Parishad, Gana Sanghati, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Biplobi Workers Party and Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party, are participating in today's meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Commission members Justice Emdadul Haque, Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, Dr Md Ayub Mia, Dr Iftekharuzzaman and Safar Raj Hossain and Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Monir Haider.