The government has accepted two of the three opposition demands, but not the one that calls for drop of two non-parliamentarians-- Harris Chowdhury and Mosaddek Ali-- from the steering committee of the conference.

The AL is also reviewing its earlier position and likely to join the conference on the condition that parliament will be made effective.

The AL will brief Commonwealth high commissioners today on the party's precondition for joining the conference. The party's advisory council will sit also today to review the situation and decide on whether or not to join the conference, sources said.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia however expressed dissatisfaction at the developments over the conference.

Speaker Jamir Uddin Sircar and Deputy Speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui went to her office (PMO) yesterday when she asked them to ensure the opposition's participation in the conference, sources at the PMO said.

Khaleda and senior members of her cabinet were highly annoyed at the likely boycott of the conference by the opposition.

The Commonwealth countries are putting pressure on the government to make sure that the opposition takes part in it.

Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina told journalists at her home village Tungipara that her party wanted successful holding of the conference in Dhaka because her past government offered to host the conference.

"But unfortunately, this government did not take us into cognizance and discuss anything with us," the UNB quoted her as saying.

Citing the inclusion of only two deputies from her party in the 25-member CPA steering committee, she said the attitude of the government showed that it did not expect the AL members in the conference.

The deputy speaker yesterday talked to Deputy Leader of the Opposition Abdul Hamid and urged the AL legislators to join the meet. He told The Daily Star that all the demands of the opposition were met. "Now they should join the conference," he said.

He said, "The prime minister wanted to know preparations for the conference and was satisfied with the activities."

"The prime minister also wanted to know about the main opposition's participation in the conference and asked the speaker and me to communicate with the opposition," said the deputy speaker.

"She also wanted to know about the inclusion of her two political secretaries in the steering committee."

Some senior AL leaders met Friday to review the overall situation following a direction of Hasina.

"The ruling party has made parliament ineffective... the CPA is a minor issue. If we join the conference and make it successful, will the ruling party allow us to speak in parliament?" asked Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, presidium member of the AL.

Selim further said the AL leaders would discuss issues like the party's participation in the CPA conference, law and order and the ongoing parliamentary stalemate with the Commonwealth high commissioners today.

Earlier, Speaker Sircar, head of the steering committee, and Deputy Speaker Hamid, head of the coordination committee, refused to exclude the two non-MPs from the steering committee.

After Denis Marshall, secretary general of the CPA, invited the opposition leader to join the conference and address the inaugural ceremony, the situation started taking a dramatic turn.

The high commissioners from Britain and Australia met the deputy speaker last week and expressed concern over the main opposition's decision to boycott the conference.

The CPA has so far held 48 conferences with the presence of the government and the opposition of the host country.

Not happy with the ruling party's attitude towards the opposition, the AL is not participating in the preparatory activities of the conference.

The fifth meeting of the steering committee was held yesterday in the absence of the AL. Much of the preparatory work, however, is complete.