It is apparent, among other things, from present day initiatives and activities of the army-supported government of Bangladesh that a determined, as well as conscious move (on the part of government) is going on to assist Bangladeshis and others in the effort towards facilitating at least an acceptable qualitative improvement in the domain of people's representation in the country's parliament within a shortest possible time, as practicable. It is a commendable step. Congratulations! We (to whom it may concern) wish them success in the above area.

Given the nature, depth and breadth of corruption in different dimensions of Bangladesh as per recent (up to 24 June 2007) media reports - both print and electronic, ramifications of corruption - both existing and potential and the need for fighting corruption in a sustained and result-oriented manner in the national, global and other interest, it is expected the anti-corruption drive will be accelerated further in order to ensure that at least those persons who are, at present, commonly known to the people of Bangladesh and others as corrupt persons and who are yet to face the country's anticorruption machinery and judiciary, as applicable, for committing corruption (used in a wider sense) are dealt with properly and promptly through the due process of law, per se.

The people of Bangladesh and others should rise on the occasion to assist the army-supported government in the effort towards arresting and prosecuting say, any person involved in corruption irrespective of facts: whether or not s/he is a blood relation; whether or not s/he is a relative (other than a blood relation); whether or not s/he is or was a boss or a subordinate; whether or not s/he is or was a philanthropist; whether or not s/he is a freedom fighter; and whether or not s/he is or was a famous personality either at home or in abroad or both; among other things.

Cooperation and assistance of above and similar nature would not only be required for creating initial conditions for say, honest people to represent Bangladeshis eventually in the parliament but for minimizing, if not eliminating, chances of clandestine operation in favor of facilitating infiltrations of say, corrupt persons - in the guise of 'honest persons' or 'honest politicians' or both - into the domains of election and people's representation both during and after the election, for example. One of the underlying assumptions here is: neither the stand alone effort of army-supported government nor the stand alone effort of people, as well as friends of Bangladesh and others would be sufficient for controlling the infiltration unless the efforts, both existing and potential, would, among other things and as appropriate, become integrative, corroborative, jointly planned and coordinative in nature, scope and applications.

In light of above and other related considerations, it now appears, among other things: one, the anticorruption drive should be wider, more comprehensive, more timely, more pluralistic and more result-oriented; two, innocent persons and families should not become unnecessary victims of that drive; three, there is a perceived need for competent authorities and others to craft and implement cutting edge strategies when it comes to for example, identification, attacking from ambush and destroying corruption related bases and networks of Bangladeshis in Bangladesh and elsewhere with or without the help of other world countries, as appropriate, in pursuits of say, enlarging vote related choices of Bangladeshis not only for the upcoming election but for elections following that election; and four, the systems, tools and controls for background check should be designed in such a manner that they will, among other things, be instrumental in restricting, at least to a workable, as well as acceptable level, the intrusion of corrupt persons into the list of qualified candidates who will be contesting eventually for say, parliamentary seats in the election.

The people of Bangladesh can no longer afford to allow corruption of any kind to continue and flourish or re-flourish in the country in the names of for example, 'power' 'politics' and 'democracy'. It is expected the outcome of anti-corruption efforts in Bangladesh will set an example for other countries and organizations (including inter alia UN organizations, multinational corporations and World Bank) to follow in pertinent areas.

The factors such as and as appropriate - a retardation (used in a scientific sense) in present day anti-corruption efforts or if the people start losing confidence in anti-corruption activities or if the outcome of anticorruption drive would finally look like old wine in the new bottle or if the outcome of anticorruption drive ultimately fails to create a solid anticorruption base upon which to build or promote or both a corruption free Bangladesh - could, either alone or in combination, be disastrous for Bangladesh and its future through the foreseeable future. It is hoped that will not be the case. The people and the army-supported government must assist each other in keeping their morale and internal motivation high in the continuous fight against corruption in Bangladesh and against corrupt practices of which Bangladesh is a party.

A free, fair and credible election in Bangladesh will not, in many respects, be sufficient for say, promoting, as well as sustaining a more people centered, a more constructive, a more accountable and a more result-oriented politics, democracy and development in the country through the foreseeable future. Repositioning the parliament as one of the vital centers for people's power base, strengthening further the role of parliament in country's governance and enhancing further the parliament's accountability to the people and vice versa would, among other things, be required for the advancement of army-supported government's reform agenda, plans and programs and for optimizing the utilization of benefits from the government's present day efforts, initiatives and activities in relevant areas.

Taking into cognizance above and related factors, it will not be illogical to assume here: Bangladeshis and others will, in pursuit of parliamentary reforms, explore such probabilities and possibilities as (either alone or in combination):

1. The formation of a government of national unity after the election for facilitating say, the process (used in a wider sense) of building upon and promoting good and useful outcomes and practices of the army-supported government in pursuit of overall progress and prosperity of Bangladesh on a continuous basis;

2. The determination of best choices for better governance in Bangladesh in pursuit of for example, promoting the country's future in a sustainable manner. It could be a parliamentary system of governance or a presidential system of governance or a mixture of both.

3. No lawmaker shall, in the foreseeable future, be allowed to holding ministerial positions of any kind in any branch of the government - save and except the head of government or the head of state and government and her or his immediate deputy - during the tenure of any parliamentary form of government or any presidential form of government or other type of democratically elected government unless it becomes incumbent upon the governments mentioned to deviate from the above requirement, either in part or in full, whether or not on a temporary basis or otherwise for the greater and genuine interest of Bangladesh, Bangladeshis and others, per se. The idea is, among other things, to appoint professionals and technocrats - whether or not they belong to a political party or a cluster of political parties at any given time - to above positions. One of the underlying assumptions here is: lawmakers should be afforded more time and opportunities for doing their core jobs, namely, lawmaking, monitoring implementation of pertinent laws, regulations (etc.), strengthening further people's power in the country's governance and promoting the culture of democracy and tolerance in say, the country's decision-making dimensions;

4. Reforms pertaining to power sharing in the parliament. The people of Bangladesh should be afforded opportunities for expressing their respective choices - through, for example, the upcoming election - when it comes to matters such as: whether or not they are in favor of arrangements like, shifting of floor in the parliament by law-makers when to comes to decision making in relevant areas; and whether or not they are in favor of considering the strength of both electoral votes and popular votes in parliamentary decisions. One of the underlying assumptions here is: the above and other related choices of people could inter alia be instrumental in liberating the country's parliament from say, autocratic advantages of the majority party rule. The political parties that are planning to participate in the election could elect to include the choices mentioned in, for example, their election manifestos. It could inter alia be instrumental in ensuring a wider participation of people in the reform of country's parliament provided that concerned politicians could afford to stick to their promises in the post election period, per se; and


5. Political empowerment of women through creating, sustaining and promoting additional parliamentary opportunities for them. One of the ways of doing that is through increasing the size of women's representation in the parliament.
In fine, it is expected, among other things, the political parties will not deceive this time again the people of Bangladesh, the army-supported government of Bangladesh and others by playing another time buying and anti-people game in pre election periods or during the election or in post election periods or the period beyond that, as appropriate. Bangladeshis, the army-supported government and others should monitor the development closely and should be ready with a contingency plan to meeting any unforeseen challenge that might derail the reform effort in pertinent areas through the foreseeable future. Wishing best to Bangladesh.

-- The New Nation