The New Nation - Internet Edition

Prakash Nauda in a recent article published in Asianaffairs (February 2008 issue) writes, "But these second-rung leaders have not been able to inspire much public confidence, some of them have been notorious for corruption, and may not be able to hold together the warring factions within their parties. Whether the caretaker government can build support among credible political leaders to both back its reform agenda and then sustain it when elected to office remains to be seen.

Both Khaleda and Hasina enjoy the support of the rank and file members of their parties. Even if ousted they may be able to control their parties from outside, as Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif did in Pakistan while in exile.

In any case, meddling in the factional politics of mainstream political parties will inevitably create a partisan image for the caretaker government. Also, parties formed with government support can only win a government-engineered election.

When on 22 February 2007 Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus announced his decision to form a new political party, to be named Nagorik Shakti to clean politics, it seemed like a breath of fresh air in the murky politics of Bangladesh.

However, after a little over two months, on 3 May 2007, Yunus gave up this initiative on the ground that the various individuals and groups who had encouraged him to join politics had themselves not come forward to publicly join his party."

Mr Nanda has rightly focused on the standings of our political bosses. It is as simple as that they lack both quality and experience. At the top of all they lack the proper mind-set. They are less tolerant, more intolerant, more self-seeking and less mass oriented.

They value their personal perks and packages more than the national interest. And their honesty is always under a big question mark.

The nation can hardly afford them. We need to get relief from their malgovernance. The sooner that happens is better for all.

Abu Musa Miah

Lalbagh, Dhaka