Opposition parties are boycotting parliament

The present provision allows 30 seats in parliament to be set aside for women and is due to expire by the end of this year.

Women's rights groups say the representation of women in political parties is still very low and for that reason the parliamentary quota should be maintained.

The bill will be placed before the next session of parliament.

Leaders of the ruling party and the opposition agree in principle with the proposed bill, but there is little possibility that opposition members will attend next week's parliament session to support the bill.

Opposition boycott

The opposition has boycotted all but one parliament session since June of last year, in protest over what they say is the partisan behaviour of the speaker and the absence of democratic practice in the House.

In Bangladesh, any constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in parliament - which the ruling party lacks.

Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Matin Khasru said if the opposition members did not attend the session to support the bill, there would be no representation of women in the next parliament.

However a spokesman for the opposition, Khondakar Delwar Hossain, said they would not return to the session unless the government created "a free and fair environment".

Mr Hossain blamed the government for not being sincere about the bill.

He said if the government was sincere it would have taken the initiative to bring the opposition to the house by implementing their demands.