The BNP on Thursday welcomed the High Court verdict that scrapped part of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, as the party said it has recognised that an elected parliament is the appropriate forum for constitutional amendments.

"We welcome and appreciate this verdict," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said while addressing a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s office in Gulshan.

The Court recognised that the next elected parliament will be the only appropriate forum for amending the Constitution, he added.

When asked whether their party had achieved what it wanted from the court's verdict on the 15th Amendment, the BNP secretary general said they had submitted various proposals as intervenors during the hearing, but he noted that the court did not fully consider their proposals.

Earlier on Tuesday, the High Court scrapped part of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution that had abolished the non-partisan caretaker government system and also issued various observations.

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Explaining the High Court verdict, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said the apex court acknowledged that Parliament holds the jurisdiction to amend the Constitution.

He said all the things that truly undermined the basic structure of the Constitution, the principles of democracy, and altered the character of the Constitution were declared unconstitutional and illegal by the court.

Salahuddin said the court also paved the way for reinstating the caretaker government system, recognising it as a fundamental aspect of the Constitution.

He said the verdict also reinstated Article 96, which pertains to the Supreme Judicial Council, as well as the provision on referendums.

Salahuddin said the court annulled some clauses that the Awami League had introduced as political tools.

The BNP leader said the fascist Awami government had declared almost a third of the constitution unamendable, which were nullified by the verdict.

"The Constitution is not such a document that cannot be changed... the court declared those provisions invalid and abolished them. The Supreme Court has the authority to interpret all laws passed by Parliament if they contain unconstitutional elements. The court has left the remaining matters to Parliament, possibly because it may have felt that there are political decisions to be made here," he said.

The BNP leader said the next politically elected Parliament will decide on all amendments.

Later, Mirza Fakhrul said all elections, including the local body ones, held under the fascist Sheikh Hasina government were illegal.

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He said their party earlier repeatedly called upon the interim government to dissolve all local government bodies. "All were dissolved except for the Union Parishad. We demanded that it should also be cancelled immediately."

In response to a question about whether the BNP wants to put former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque on trial for his involvement in the process of illegally amending the Constitution, the BNP Secretary General said, “When the opportunity comes, he will definitely be brought to justice."