Indirect approaches are being traded off between the two sides to get some kind of a dialogue started on electoral and caretaker government agenda.

Their tough talk diatribe is somewhat tapering off amidst a growing realisation perhaps that time is fast running out for reforms to be agreed upon and processed for enactment through the parliament before the general election can be held as scheduled in January.

The last session of the parliament during the present government's incumbency is being convened on September 10, less than three weeks away. This offers an added opportunity for following up on the reform issue in the parliament, in addition to a dialogue outside the parliament. One would have thought that the reform enactment could be wrapped up in the ensuing JS session, if sufficient progress were made between both sides in reaching a common ground for a suitable constitutional amendment in the end.

There is ample merit in the proposal originally made by the business community for an immediate dialogue between the BNP secretary general and his counterpart in the opposition as a precursor to wider talks on well-developed reform agenda. Since the opposition is reluctant to sit with any Jamaat representative on the government side, opening the talks at the secretary general level is the way to go about it by way of marking a beginning to an engagement process that yields a result.

We are in a breakneck race with time, so without any ado or dillydally, the secretary general level talks must be flagged off following, of course, a formal written proposal from Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan to Abdul Jalil. For such a one-to-one dialogue to be useful they must be prepared to sit with an open mind, setting no preconditions whatsoever.

Since both sides know at their heart of hearts that talks are the only way to thrash out differences over the reform agenda, it is an imperative necessity at this stage that they try their utmost to ensure that the atmosphere remains conducive to starting a dialogue. But Khaleda Zia still berating in a public meeting that the opposition is 'out to foil' election cannot help the cause.