Dialogue held on caretaker government features, upper House

The special committee on constitutional amendment has not yet made any final decision on formation and size of a non-partisan caretaker government.

The chairman of the special committee and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed came up with what was discussed in a meeting which was eighth meeting held on Saturday.

Salahuddin Ahmed said a proposal was also made at the meeting to create a vice president post in the upper house of parliament and make that person the speaker of the upper house, and to make that speaker the head of the caretaker government. Alongside this, bringing a balance of power between the president and the prime minister and allowing members of parliament to vote independently on matters other than four areas also came up in the discussion.

The meeting was held at the Cabinet Room of the National Parliament with constitutional experts, experienced lawyers, and law professors from various universities. Among the invited experts, 44 attended and provided their written and oral opinions and proposals on constitutional amendment.

At the press conference, Salahuddin Ahmed said, "Discussions were held to find answers to important questions such as what the power structure of state governance will be and how accountability of the executive branch can be ensured. Many have given ideas on whether, if an upper house is formed and the upper house is not dissolved within the same term of parliament, the process of forming a caretaker government can be kept within that upper house. In this regard, a proposal has come to create a vice president post in the upper house."

"One person proposed that the vice president could be given the responsibility of speaker of the upper house. However, as an alternative, the matter of electing the speaker with the consensus of the government and opposition also came up in the discussion. Whether that speaker can be made the head of the caretaker government could be considered. Similarly, proposals have also come on whether provisions can be kept for appointing advisers from among heads of other institutions besides the speaker, with the consensus of the government and opposition. However, although discussions on the matter continued, no firm decision could be reached," said the committee chairman.

Emphasizing the participation of the opposition party, Salahuddin Ahmed said, "If the opposition party wants to relax the note of dissent in any case, they must come to the committee and state it formally. I am calling on the opposition party to join the meeting to maintain the continuity of parliamentary practice and discussion."

He further said, "A proposal has come to increase the president's power regarding appointments to 'statutory bodies' or commissions, where it has been proposed that the president will make appointments to at least six bodies."

Meanwhile, a press release sent from the Parliament Secretariat on Saturday evening stated that one of the main topics of discussion at the meeting was the formation and size of a non-partisan caretaker government and establishing a balance of power between the president and the prime minister. Fundamental issues such as the implementation of the July National Charter, ensuring full independence of the judiciary, the principles of the fundamental structure of the constitution, making parliamentary standing committees more effective and empowered, and the opportunity for legislators to express opinions freely in the National Parliament received importance in the constitutional amendment discussions.
Besides these, various proposals were also presented in the discussion on enacting a law for appointing judges, establishing a Supreme Court secretariat, determining the independent scope of work of statutory bodies, and the possible role of the upper house in the caretaker government system. Alongside this, the meeting also discussed the nomination of opposition party representatives to the post of chairman of parliamentary standing committees in accordance with Article 76 of the Constitution.

The press release further said that the meeting also discussed the amendment of Article 70 of the Constitution. In the proposed amendment, the matter of keeping the opportunity for members of parliament to express opinions freely and vote independently on matters other than four areas—confidence vote, finance bill, constitutional amendment, and national security or wartime situations—came up in the discussion.

The meeting, presided over by Salahuddin Ahmed, was attended by committee members including Chief Whip of the National Parliament Nurul Islam Moni, Law Minister Md. Asaduzzaman, Zainul Abedin, State Minister for Planning Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki, Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin, State Minister for Social Welfare Farzana Sharmin, and Sakila Farzana.