It is unfortunate that most civil society organizations have failed to recognize that these reforms could open new pathways for them -- creating fresh opportunities to empower citizens and strengthen the accountability of state institutions, ultimately shaping their own future governance agenda.
The July Charter is quite clear: The proposed Upper Chamber will not have the power to block legislation, and the question of leading to a hung parliament does not even arise.
An Upper House based on proportional representation would be the single most valuable reform that all sides could agree to that could truly make a difference to the Bangladeshi body politic. The BNP should take that deal.
The only meaningful item remaining on the reform agenda is whether an Upper House should be based on PR or not. Everything else can be sorted out without difficulty. We are closer to consensus than you think.
Everything you wanted to know about a proportional representation-based upper house and were afraid to ask
