BNP Walks Out of National Consensus Commission Meeting, Then Rejoins

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) staged a walkout from a session of the National Consensus Commission, only to rejoin the meeting later the same day. The incident occurred on Monday around 11:30 AM during the commission’s 20th day of dialogue with political parties, held at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.

Initially, the meeting began at 11:00 AM with representatives from various political parties. However, the BNP delegation walked out in protest when discussions turned to the appointment of heads of key constitutional bodies—namely, the Public Service Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Auditor General, and Ombudsman.

Speaking to BBC Bangla, BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed explained the reason behind the walkout. He stated,

“We reached consensus on forming the Election Commission independently. Therefore, there is no need to rethink appointments to other constitutional posts that are already governed by the Constitution and existing laws.”

Mr Ahmed argued that bringing these appointments under separate debate could risk reducing the power of the executive branch and potentially lead to complications in governance.

Despite their initial departure, the BNP later returned to the meeting, signalling a continued interest in engaging with the national dialogue process, albeit with reservations on certain procedural issues.