Party sources also said the AL will not budge on its stance that instead of the president, the caretaker government should be in charge of the defence ministry for the sake of a free and fair election.

The BNP, on the other hand, will not concede the opposition's demand for reforms in the caretaker government system.

Under tremendous pressure from different quarters both at home and abroad, the government side however might agree to reconstitute the Election Commission (EC) and reach a consensus over the demands regarding the reforms of electoral laws, said sources within BNP.

Meanwhile, the schedule for the dialogue has not been made final till 10:30 last night. Sources said that the opposition wants the talks to take place anywhere except the Sangsad Bhaban, any hotel or residence while BNP has proposed that they [secretaries general] can sit at the state guesthouse Padma on Tuesday.

AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil told The Daily Star at about 9:30pm last night that they have not yet set the date and venue.

Earlier in the day, he said, "I will call him (Bhuiyan) tonight (last night) to talk the time and venue."

But as of 10:30pm, neither Jalil nor Bhuiyan phoned each other to settle the issue.

BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan last night had a closed-door meeting with senior leaders Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Tariqul Islam, MK Anwar, Aminul Haq, Khandakar Mahbubuddin Ahmed, and Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman to devise the party strategies for the dialogue.

Highly placed sources said the ruling party might not compromise on keeping Justice KM Hasan as the chief of the next caretaker government and the defence under the president's jurisdiction.

It might also not accept any changes in the electoral provisions defining the duties of the law enforcers. The provisions were introduced before the 2001 election.

"We will stick to our stance on at least two out of the five demands regarding the caretaker government system. No way will we approve of Justice Hasan taking over as the chief adviser," a senior opposition leader told The Daily Star last night.

He said the opposition will not move an inch from its demand for reconstitution of the EC.

Another leader of the 14-party said on the first day of the negotiations, Jalil will table the 31-point reforms demand in its entirety."After knowing the government's response to our proposals, we will decide on which points should we stand our ground in the interest of a credible election," he added.

Secretaries general of the two parties have maintained that they would go to the talks with an open mind and without any preconditions. The AL has already set its strategies for the talks to break the current political stalemate over electoral reforms.

"I have had discussions with my party chief and my colleagues in the party and alliance. My preparations for the talks are almost completed," Jalil, also coordinator of the 14-party combine, told newsmen at his Mercantile Bank office yesterday.

Bhuiyan, also LGRD and cooperatives minister, will sit with the secretaries-general of the ruling coalition partners today to discuss different aspects of the dialogue.

A party insider claimed that BNP's strategies have already been finalised at a meeting between Bhuiyan and Tarique Rahman on Saturday night. The senior ministers discussed those again at Bhuiyan's house last night.