Leaders from the Left Democratic Alliance, the 12-Party Alliance, and several other political groups protested against perceived discrimination in seating arrangements during the National Consensus Commission’s dialogue on Thursday by choosing to sit in the back rows rather than in their designated seats.
The fourth day of the second phase of the commission’s dialogue resumed at 11:30 AM at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka.
Left Democratic Alliance Coordinator and Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) General Secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince, 12-Party Alliance Chairman Syed Ehsanul Huda, and Bangladesh LDP Chairman Shahadat Hossain Selim were among the leaders who expressed dissatisfaction by moving to the back.
Speaking over the phone, Selim confirmed that leaders from the Left Democratic Alliance and his own party deliberately chose not to sit in the assigned seats at the front, viewing the seating arrangement as unfair.
A senior leader, requesting anonymity, said, "We have observed this imbalance from the first day. The seating arrangement appears arbitrary. Some parties have multiple leaders seated in the front rows, while key leaders from other parties are assigned seats further back. This has been changing daily."
He added that the silent protest was intended to avoid confrontation while signaling their discontent. "We sat in the back row but actively participated in the discussions from there. We now wait to see how the commission addresses this issue going forward."
Despite requests from the commission for the dissatisfied leaders to occupy their assigned seats, they refused.
Notably, the seats allocated for Ruhin Hossain Prince and Shahadat Hossain Selim in the front rows remained empty throughout the session.
On the previous day, CPB and Gono Forum leaders walked out of the meeting in protest, alleging they were not being allowed to speak. They later returned following the intervention of commission members.
The ongoing dialogue has included participation from 30 political parties, including BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National People`s Front, Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, and CPB.
