Law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister Asaduzzaman on Thursday said that Bangladesh’s 14th Jatiya Sangsad election would be held under a caretaker government following the Supreme Court Appellate Division’s verdict upholding the High Court judgment on the 15th Amendment to the Constitution.

Speaking to reporters at his office at the Secretariat, the minister said the exact process for forming the election-time government and its composition would become clear after the full text of the judgment was released.

Earlier on the day, the Appellate Division upheld the High Court verdict declaring unconstitutional four key provisions of the Constitution (15th Amendment) Act, 2011, including the abolition of the non-party caretaker government system.

The apex court, however, left all other issues relating to the 15th Amendment to be decided by parliament.

Asked whether he could confirm that the next parliamentary election would be held under a caretaker government, the minister replied, ‘Inshallah, Inshallah. This is our political commitment.’

He said the caretaker government concept emerged from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s democratic movement, adding that the party had introduced the 13th Amendment to the Constitution in parliament in 1996 to establish the framework for a non-party, neutral caretaker government.

The minister said the BNP had continued its movement for the restoration of the caretaker government system over the past 16 to 17 years.

‘Under Khaleda Zia’s leadership, we carried forward the movement with the slogan ‘Save the country, save the people’. Our principal objective was to ensure that people could freely exercise their voting rights and cast their ballots for the candidates of their choice,’ he said.

He said there had been no viable alternative to restoring the caretaker government system to ensure a credible electoral process.

‘We remain politically committed to that goal,’ the minister said.