Saying that democracy cannot be sustained or advanced without an elected government, they also called upon the caretaker government to hold a free, fair and credible election after bringing necessary electoral reforms.

The speakers made the remarks on BBC Bangladesh Sanglap held in Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference centre in the capital.

"If the present caretaker government stays in power for a long period of time, democracy will be hampered. But we will have to give them time to carry out necessary reforms for holding a free and fair election," said Awami League (AL) leader Advocate Abdul Hamid, who was also a deputy leader of the opposition in the last parliament.

BNP leader and former whip Ashraf Hossain termed the present caretaker government 'undemocratic'. "As the present government is not elected, it is of course undemocratic," said the BNP leader. He also observed that the present government is a hindrance to flourishing of democracy.

The AL leader however said the current government could not be called 'unconstitutional'.

Speaking at the event, former foreign secretary Waliur Rahman said democracy cannot work in a country without a government based on political parties.

Dilara Chowdhury, professor of government and politics at Jahangirnagar University, said, "Of course democracy will suffer if the current government stays in power for a long period of time."

Replying to a question about reforming political parties, both the AL and BNP leaders agreed in principle that they will accept any good proposal from the Election Commission and the caretaker government regarding the matter.

"If their recommendations are good for the country, then we have to implement those before the people reject us," said Hamid of AL.

"If we get any specific, acceptable and good recommendation, we must accept those," said Ashraf of BNP.

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.

Waliur and Dilara also stressed the need for bringing reforms to political parties to make the country's democracy stronger and to establish internal democracy within the parties.

The leaders of AL and BNP however claimed that democratic practices already exist in both the parties.

About arresting corrupt former army officials, the speakers said the caretaker government should take actions against any corrupt individual. They also said the government should take effective measures to check the price hike of essentials.