But the main opposition Awami League (AL) castigated Speaker Jamir Uddin Sircar, also the president of the 49th conference of the CPA, for approving the composition of the delegation Friday night without consulting it.

Abdul Jalil, the AL general secretary, told The Daily Star yesterday, "The move again proves the speaker's attitude towards the opposition. [The ruling coalition] has been ignoring the AL since the very beginning of the preparatory works on the conference and such attitude is still continuing," he added.

"It also proves that they are unwilling to discuss any matter with us. Though we decided to boycott the conference, they could have consulted us before approving the team if they were sincere about the opposition's participation in the entire process," Jalil argued.

The AL said it was not also consulted on the formation of the steering committee in July 30 meeting.

Sources said Chief Whip Khandaker Delwar Hossain will lead the team while five lawmakers from the main opposition were included in the team. They are AL presidium member Abdus Samad Azad, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Abdul Hamid, Chief Whip of the Opposition Abdus Shahid, Farook Khan and Hamida Banu Shova.

The other members are the speaker, Deputy Speaker Akhter Hamid Siddiqui, Abdul Mannan, Kabir Hossain, Rustam Ali Farazi, Elen Bhutto and Khadiza Amin from the BNP and Shah Mohammad Ruhul Quddus from Jamaat-e-Islami and Rawsan Ershad from Jatiya Party (Ershad).

The speaker, deputy speaker, chief whip (team leader), Abdul Mannan and Abdus Samad Azad will have the voting right in the conference. The rest will be observers.

Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmed, secretary of the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat, is the secretary of the parliamentary delegation.

Sources said the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat yesterday briefed the CPA headquarters in London about the preparatory works.

Meanwhile, no further move was taken by the speaker to ensure the opposition's participation in the conference as the CPA headquarters is dealing with the issue.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will inaugurate the conference on October 7 at Bangladesh-China Friendship Auditorium. So far, 522 delegates are expected to join the conference from 154 parliaments of 48 countries. Of them, 403 are MPs, including 52 speakers and 75 women MPs.