Political parties agree on independent police commission: Ali Riaz

"So far, there has been a consensus on 12 major issues as part of the ongoing political dialogue and reform discussions," he said.

Speaking at the 19th session of the second round of reform talks, held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, Prof Riaz also mentioned that progress has been made on seven additional issues, though final agreement on those has yet to be achieved.

Outlining the proposed structure of the Bangladesh Police Commission, he said it will comprise nine members. 

The commission will be chaired by a retired judge of the Appellate Division who is not older than 75 years and a retired police officer, under the age of 62 and below the rank of Additional Inspector General, will serve as the member secretary, he added.

Other members will include representatives of the Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. 

The commission will also include a retired government official of at least Secretary rank with experience as a District Magistrate, a judicial officer not below the rank of District Judge or a High Court lawyer with at least 15 years of experience, and a human rights activist with a minimum of 10 years’ practical experience in a registered human rights organisation.

At least two of the commission members will be women.

Meanwhile, political parties reached a consensus over two reform proposals – one for not allowing anyone to serve as the Prime Minister for more than 10 years in life and another is for forming an independent police commission to ensure professionalism and accountability in the police force.

“We had reached a consensus on one matter but didn’t announce it before. It’s that the Prime Minister will not be allowed to serve more than 10 years in total,” said Prof Ali Riaz.

The NCC Vice Chair expressed the hope that discussions with political parties will be concluded by July 31 and  the draft of the national charter will be sent to the parties by the commission on Monday, reports UNB. 

Some 30 political parties, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP), participated in the second-round dialogue.