The AL proposed the BNP for both morning and evening sittings of parliament a day to enable more lawmakers to debate the proposed budget for the fiscal 2004-05 slated for passage on June 30 at a meeting of whips in the presence of Speaker Jamir Uddin Sircar.

Opposition Chief Whip Abdus Shahid also demanded allocation of 50 percent of the debate time to the AL deputies.

Sircar told the negotiators that parliament dedicated 13 hours to discussing the proposed budget until Wednesday, of which opposition deputies got four hours and 17 minutes.

In the six hours of discussion on the supplementary budget for the FY 2003-04, the AL deputies' share stood at 53 minutes.

The speaker last night adjourned the session until 11:00am on Sunday in a show of agreement on the point, but the time-sharing was yet to be decided.

"On our demands for running the House in two-shifts from Sunday and 50 percent of time allocation to the opposition, Chief Whip Khandakar Delwar Hossain told us that they will inform us of their decision shortly," Shahid told reporters after the meeting.

Deputy Speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui and opposition Whip Faruk Khan were also present.