He also said it is not acceptable if anyone in politics is promoted dynastically without taking into consideration the person's qualifications and merits.

"The party chairperson [Khaleda Zia] can take decisions anytime according to our constitution. But the decision in this context was not right. It should have been discussed in the proper party forum," Farruk said on BBC Bangladesh Sanglap recorded in Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital.

"The process of inducting him [Sayeed Iskandar] should have been transparent," he said replying to a query about reforming political parties. The BNP leader said before bringing reforms to the party, reform should be defined properly.

He emphasised that leaders and activists from all levels have to demand that the party chief brings reforms to BNP. He also said any reform in BNP must be brought internally without any external pressure.

Another former education minister and Awami League's (AL) Advisory Council Member ASHK Sadique emphasised on bringing reforms to party constitutions, and on area based elections for electing party leaderships so that councillors may elect them without being influenced. He said the present system of electing leaderships is expensive as all councillors have to be brought to the capital, who also need to be accommodated for five to six days.

Refuting allegations that AL President Sheikh Hasina was made the party president dynastically, Sadique said she was elected president by the party itself while she was in exile.

BBC Bangla Service in conjunction with BBC World Service Trust organised the discussion. BBC's Waliur Rahman Miraj and Masud Hasan Khan produced and moderated the event respectively.

Taking part in the discussion, Maj Gen (retd) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim said the two major party chiefs could hand over leaderships and responsibilities to two competent persons of the respective parties, as, in his words, both the chiefs have been leading the parties since 1981 and 1982.

Bangladesh Mohila Parishad General Secretary Ayesha Khanam emphasised on changing the top leaderships of BNP and AL and said party councillors, leaders and activists have to play key roles in bringing internal reforms to both the parties.

Replying to another query, Farruk said the caretaker government is not being able to handle the country's political problems efficiently with days passing fast. He said formation of a national unity government might be a possibility for solving the prevailing political crisis. The present caretaker government might be thinking about it, he noted.

Sadique said only the political parties should decide on the matter of forming a national unity government. The parties should take decisions about the matter after the ban on indoor politics is lifted, he added.

Commenting on Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus' recent bowing out of politics, most of the discussants said he took the decision based on his sagacity.

They also emphasised on going deep to dig out the reasons behind the rise of militancy in the country even during the state of emergency, and on making the public aware of the reasons. The discussants urged the caretaker government to look into the allegations against the 27th BCS exam properly, and if the allegations are not proven then, not to keep the matter hanging.