The National Consensus Commission has proposed a revised policy requiring political parties to nominate women candidates in seven percent of general constituencies, while keeping the existing 50 reserved seats for women in parliament.
The commission’s Vice President Ali Riaz presented the proposal during the 22nd day of the second phase of dialogue with political parties at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Previously, the Constitution Reform Commission had proposed direct elections for 100 women in the reserved seats.
Similarly, the Electoral Reform Commission and several parties — including the National Citizen Party (NCP), Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) — suggested direct voting for 100 women through a rotating system.
However, Islamist parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, advocated for proportional representation in 100 seats.
Meanwhile, the BNP and like-minded parties proposed retaining the current system of 100 reserved seats for women.
In response to these differing views, the commission presented a revised proposal on July 14, saying that any political party nominating candidates in more than 25 constituencies must ensure at least one-third of those are women.
