National Consensus Commission (NCC) on Tuesday started its 21st session of second-round dialogues with political parties to reach decisions on several important reform issues.

The session began at 11:30am at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital with NCC vice chair Prof Ali Riaz presiding.

In his introductory speech, Prof Ali Riaz said, “We must give a final shape to the National Charter by July 31 at any cost. At least, we must clearly incorporate in the Charter those issues on which consensus is achieved.” 

He said the NCC has already sent a draft of the Charter to the political parties and is now waiting for their feedback.

“We will be able to send the agreed points—both from the first round and up to this stage of the second round—to the parties by Thursday. Combining the points of consensus from both rounds, we will reach a charter-ready position within the day after tomorrow,” Prof Riaz hoped.

Some 30 political parties, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizen Party-NCP, are taking part in the talks to present their respective positions on the proposed reforms.

Several important reform issues, including the appointment process of the caretaker government chief, are being discussed in the 21st session of the second-round dialogue.

Consensus Commission aims to finalise a unified stance on key reform proposals by July 31 after completing discussions on some 20 major reform issues during the ongoing second-round dialogue.

The Commission will finalise the July National Charter 2025 with the agreed proposals with a timeline for implementation of the state reform initiatives within the next two years reflecting the public aspirations demonstrated during the 2024 July-August Mass Uprising.

Formed on February 15, 2025, under the leadership of Chief Adviser Prof Yunus, the Commission was tasked with forging a unified national stance on crucial state reforms. The Commission held its first-round talks with the political parties and alliances between March 20 and May 19.