They were expecting advice from Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Sheikh Hasina on the matter last night.

AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil was tasked with communicating over telephone with Hasina, also AL president, who is now in the US for treatment. AL sources however said the opposition coalition will send a reply within four to five days.

The AL-led 14-party opposition coalition yesterday at an emergency meeting discussed BNP's letter and raised several questions about it.

The coalition leaders said BNP did not specify the nature of the committee and did not seek names of representatives from the components of the opposition coalition.

Jalil, also the coordinator of the opposition coalition, said they will send a letter to BNP seeking explanation for the lack of clarity in details of the invitation.

The AL general secretary at yesterday's meeting clarified that the 14-party coalition had placed the reform proposal, not AL alone. So any discussion will have to be with the coalition, meeting sources said.

Copies of the letter sent by BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan to the AL general secretary were distributed among the leaders of the components of the 14-party coalition. They will discuss the issue within their parties and sit again today.

Meanwhile the opposition coalition yesterday said the government has finally been forced to acknowledge the peoples' demand through sending the letter seeking discussion on the oppositions' proposed reforms in the system of caretaker government and the Election Commission (EC). They termed it a preliminary success of the people in realising their demands.

"When the government sent the letter inviting us for discussion after terming the oppositions' demands baseless and illogical for long, it proved that our demands are logical," Jalil told journalists after the meeting at AL's central office on Bangabandhu Avenue.

On Monday, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan sent a letter to Abdul Jalil seeking names of AL representatives for the committee to discuss the opposition's proposal for electoral reforms.

Jalil said the government sent the letter acknowledging the reality and they have taken the letter positively.

"When we placed the reform proposal in the House on February 12, we hoped that the leader of the House would respond positively, but she called it illogical and unacceptable," Jalil added.

The AL leader said the government sent the letter because they had asked for an official invitation to discuss electoral reforms.

The 14-party meeting, however, expressed its resolve to carry out sit-ins in front of the Bangladesh Secretariat on March 30. It also decided to demonstrate across the country on March 28 protesting police attacks on its leaders Hasanul Haque Inu and Abdur Razzak, and an unsuspecting passer-by Shahin Sultana Shanta, and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal's attack on Eden College students.

Presided over by Rashed Khan Menon, the meeting was also attended by senior leaders including Abdur Razzak, Motia Chowdhury, Nurul Islam, Bimal Biswas, Abdus Samad, Zakir Hossain, Shirin Akther, Sharif Nurul Ambia and Mainuddin Khan Badal.