"The demand is irrational," Prime Minister Khaleda Zia told the house while speaking on a thanksgiving motion on president's speech to parliament.

"Nothing worthwhile will come of roundtables or street agitation on the issue," she said, 'The caretaker government system exists and will be the same in the constitution. And the next parliamentary elections will be held under the caretaker government."

Opposition parties led by Awami League (AL) at a roundtable in the city Monday demanded that the chief of caretaker government should be appointed by a consensus of all. The opposition leaders there put forward a number of proposals to ensure credible elections and strengthen the election commission (EC).

The leader of the house said, "The main opposition is raising the demand, as it has no valid issues at hand and knows for sure that it won't be able to win out the four-party alliance in the next general election."

Regretting that they (AL) are now opposing the same caretaker system they once called the 'world's best', Khaleda said her government is willing to take part in any discussion on reform proposals to electoral laws, provided those are tabled in the house.

"Join parliament," she told AL, "and place your proposals here on how to make the elections more perfect within the existing caretaker government system."

Taking part in the thanksgiving discussion, Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman, too, dubbed the ideas broached by the opposition roundtable as absurd. "It's very much impossible to choose a chief adviser through consensus," he said.

He termed AL 'an undemocratic party' and came down on it heavily for what he said was using the media to destroy the country's image.

Newspapers are a major player in a democracy, he noted, adding, "Awami League leaders are now using the negative headlines of the newspapers as a weapon to destroy the country's image."

Saifur urged newspapers to make constructive criticism of the government and to avoid anything that might harm the greater interest of the nation, saying, "It'll be of no benefit to destroy the image of the country, rather will mean loss for us all."

BNP Secretary General and LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said AL has to come to parliament to bring changes in the existing provisions of the non-party caretaker government.

"Holding roundtables outside parliament on the issue will not bring any positive result to this end, as parliament is the right place to bring any amendments to the existing caretaker government system," Bhuiyan told the Jatiya Sangsad (JS).

The law minister's criticism of the opposition demand was more pointed. Barrister Moudud Ahmed said, "Caretaker government is a settled issue and one of the basics of the constitution," and blamed the opposition for trying to unsettle the case and creating unrest in the society.

Moudud said if the opposition has any practical suggestions within the framework of the constitution to make elections free and fair and clean and protect it from the influence of black money, it can present them in parliament.

During the discussion yesterday, Communications Minister Nazmul Huda presented a new formula for making elections fair, and free of influence of black money.

He proposed to introduce a four-page passport come citizenship certificate for every one aged 18 and above and to confine election campaign to seven days, which he said "will reduce expenditure and influence of black money."

Huda described two pages of the passport to bear the person's curriculum vitae. Of the rest two pages, one will carry information relating to the person's travels abroad and the last about his voting activities.

The minister, also a barrister, said the presiding officers of the elections the persons will have participated in will sign on the page on voting. "It'll prove if the person has voted or not; consequently, it'll reduce the tendency of ballot-rigging and fake vote-casting," he maintained.