Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed yesterday said the three demands made by Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Prokriya were “unconstitutional”.

Jatiya Oikya Prokriya [national unity process] yesterday issued a September-30 deadline for the government to meet its three-point demand, which include steps for formation of an election-time neutral government.

“What they [Jatiya Oikya Prokriya] demanded is absolutely unconstitutional and it is totally impossible to fulfill. The next election will be held in accordance with the constitution,” he told The Daily Star over the phone last night.

Tofail, also the commerce minister, outright rejected the notion of dissolving parliament or “resignation of the government”.

A polls-time cabinet would be formed under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and that government would only discharge routine duties and the Election Commission would hold the national polls, he said.

“The government's main job is to assist the Election Commission in holding the polls, and the polls-time government of Sheikh Hasina will do just that,” he said.

Citing examples of other countries, Tofail said elections in those countries are held with the incumbent government in power. In India, parliament is not dissolved, he added.

Meanwhile, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader at a rally in Feni yesterday said, “The people of the country will not accept any unity excluding the Awami League.”

An international survey suggests that 66 percent people support Hasina while AL's popularity is 64 percent, he said.

No national unity would be forged without a popular party    like AL, he said, referring to the initiative of Dr Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Prokriya's “greater national unity”.