Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said the constitution and electoral system do not function at the whim of individuals since the electoral system follows the practices of democratic nations around the world.
"Constitution and electoral system has been established following the practices of different democratic countries. So, the constitution and electoral system do not work as per the whim of any individual," he said in a statement protesting BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's misleading and politically motivated remarks.
The ruling party general secretary said autocrats Ziaur Rahman and HM Ershad amended the constitution to give constitutional legitimacy to the power seized by them for personal interests. Those amendments of the constitution were declared illegal by the country's highest court, now there is no scope to go back to that system, he added.
"Now those who are giving anti-constitutional statements want to see an undemocratic and unelected government system," Quader added.
Criticizing BNP leaders for their attempts to mislead people, Quader said BNP leaders are making such unconstitutional, undemocratic and false remarks because they want to see an unelected and undemocratic government in power.
He said Awami League led by Bangabandhu's daughter and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is always in favour of an inclusive election and it expects a competitive electoral system.
Mentioning that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina always welcomes the participation of all political parties in elections, Obaidul Quader said Awami League wants the participation of all political parties to testify their popularity, along with building the habit to accept election results.
BNP does not participate in elections sensing its defeat. And if it joins the polls, it will only do so to make the election questionable, he said, adding that if the BNP secretary general's mentality is like then the democracy would never be sustainable.