Dhaka, June 28 -- As the interim government approaches a crucial July deadline to finalise sweeping political and institutional reforms, the National Consensus Commission is struggling to unite deeply polarised political parties around even a few key principles.

Out of the nine core issues prioritised in dialogues with the parties, only two have so far seen full consensus, with a third -- term limits for the premiership -- deemed "near-consensus", according to Ali Riaz, vice-chairman of the National Consensus Commission.

"We've reached agreement on Article 70 [of the Constitution] and parliamentary standing committee appointments," Riaz said earlier this week.

"On limiting the premiership to 10 years, most parties are aligned. But over...