"I want your opinions on budget proposals," he said in his address as the chief guest to the inaugural session of the National Policy Review Forum 2003 at a city hotel.

The budget session will be meaningless without participation of the opposition lawmakers, said Saifur. He admitted to the tradition of the ruling parties depriving the opposition lawmakers of the floor in parliament.

Many areas of the government lack good governance and only a good political culture can ensure democracy, transparency and the rule of law, he went on. "Politics is the foundation for good governance," he said.

The governments since 1991 have no major policy differences. But a few irritants surfaced in times of implementation, he said.

Saifur, responding to a concern expressed by a speaker at the event, argued that the government alone should not be blamed for the slide in standards of education. He pointed to the irregularities in the education sector over the years and accused politicians of not uniting on national issues.

The National Policy Review Forum 2003, organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), the Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, is the finale of eight regional consultation meetings that discussed draft review briefs.

Seventeen taskforces, involving more than 200 experts, business leaders and civil society representatives, took part in the regional consultations in Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Mymensingh, Barisal, Narayanganj, Rajshahi and Dhaka.

Politicians, lawmakers, chamber leaders and bureaucrats attended the event, chaired by CPD Chairman Professor Rehman Sobhan.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition Abdul Hamid, Editor of The Daily Star Mahfuz Anam, Editor of the Prothom Alo Motiur Rahman and CPD Executive Director Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya addressed the session.

As special guest, the deputy leader of the opposition said democracy lies only with the constitution, not in practice. Countrymen are frustrated by the roles of both ruling and opposition parties, he said.

"Opposition members of parliament have often been deprived of the floor. They have been left out of the development work in their constituencies," said Hamid.

Hamid said he could not serve the country better because of the present political culture. Without combined efforts of ruling and opposition parties, people cannot tap into the opportunities yielded by freedom, he said.

Mahfuz Anam said the people are not happy with development and political outcome over the last 30 years, as the political culture, parliamentary practice and the relations between the ruling and opposition parties remained the same. "Success in development has been far from adequate."

The standards of education are way short of expectations, and Bangladesh will fail to catch up with the global pace unless it produces high-standard human resources.

Motiur Rahman said that it is difficult to do any good to common people without involving them.

Professor Rehman Sobhan urged the finance minister to form a special parliamentary committee on the upcoming budget, which will be headed by an opposition lawmaker. The government should form such a committee as a goodwill gesture, he said.

Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya said the efforts of the civil society in achieving economic objectives would hit snags without a strong political will.