As young civil servants, we gave vent to our angry feelings about rising corruption in Ayub Khan's military regime, specially following the dictator's amateurish experiment with basic democracy. Akhter Hameed Khan said something very pertinent. He said that politicians had to win the elections. Patronage and rosy promises were the only means by which they could get those votes in the short run, "you can't expect the politicians to be angels."

Politics, rampant corruption, and peddling power for raising campaign funds, have been endemic problems with most governments. One hears about massive corruption and abuse of power even in socialist countries like China, which features prominently in Amnesty International's reports for the largest number of public executions.

But the problem is recognized in China, unlike in Bangladesh, and severe penal actions are taken as deterrent measures. Surprisingly, even in the USA, as recently as in 1996, public debates have focused on the "soft money" that was contributed to the general campaign funds.

A survey showed that the majority of the American public thought that political systems were corrupt. In fact, as far back as 1901, President Teddy Roosevelt announced that his primary goal was to enact a campaign financing law.

While it was shocking for us to see the recent TV footage of stacks of currency notes being recovered from mattresses and a freezer of a senior forestry department official, which by no means is a unique event.

A CNN website recently revealed that US Federal agents had searched the Capitol Hill office of a Louisiana congressman, investigating bribery charges. Interestingly enough, the agents found $90,000 in cash last year in his Washington home, hidden away in a freezer.

I guess our friend in the forest department probably had the brainwave from the CNN! The opportunities for making a quick buck, that arise from exercise of political or official power, will always be there.

We don't deserve this degradation!
As the sordid details of the grossest forms of corrupt practices by political leaders, bureaucrats and businessmen at the top are unraveled, we can only ask ourselves, why did this happen to us? Why did we allow this crisis, which the sociologists would term as social "anomie," or collective suicide, to take place in the first instance?

It did not happen in one day; rather the crisis gradually engulfed us over the years, like the billowing smoke of a house on fire. All of us had seen the smoke signals clearly, but we did not see the impending devastation.

We had the dubious distinction of topping the list of the most corrupt nations under the regimes of both AL and BNP. But most certainly this nation, which had sacrificed so much for its liberation, did not deserve the degradation.

Bangladesh is after all a nation that was inspired by nationalistic, secular and progressive values arising out of a bloody war of independence. As I had stressed in one of my earlier writings, Bangladesh is probably the most homogeneous amongst the Asian nations. If you compare our situation with neighbours like India, Pakistan, Malaysia, or even a smaller country like Sri Lanka, the nation building tasks that faced our leaders were much simpler.

Religion will be an important social force for all the communities and ethnic groups; but what we needed foremost was enlightened leadership that could bring everyone -- including the small ethnic groups and religious minorities -- within the folds of an all-inclusive concept of nationhood.

Minorities in Bangladesh have been unfortunate victims of persecution and discrimination. With a genuine nationalistic platform, we could embrace them all as integral and constituent elements of our nation. We have to provide them with more equitable opportunities to develop themselves.

We also needed a straighforward vision for socio-economic development, focusing on quick alleviation of poverty and expansion of educational and health facilities for all citizens. Since the 90s there has been considerable progress on many fronts, with GDP growth picking up during the last decade.

But, at the same time, we have also witnessed, unfortunately, the total collapse of the governmental, social and political, institutions, which were responsible for nurturing, protecting and promoting democratic values and public morality.

Politics of confrontation, combined with a brazen lust for power for attainment of private gains, have destroyed our universities and educational institutions, the judiciary and the bureaucracy, all professional bodies, public enterprises and, finally, the political parties themselves, which were the mainstay of our parliamentary democracy.

A historic opportunity for political reforms
We have, right now, an unprecedented opportunity for reforming and redesigning our political and electoral systems. Bangladesh could be passing through the most exciting time since its independence; we seem to have arrived at a historic crossroads. What was our worst of times could also become our finest hour.

There is now a groundswell of public opinion, as well as a consensus amongst the top political leaders, that reforms within the parties must be carried out. Already, top leaders of BNP have announced an agenda of reforms, which will be placed before its council.

Similar reforms are being contemplated by the leadership within Awami League as well. The debate, ultimately, will involve not only the present caretaker government but also the general population, the civil society, political parties, the business community, the media, the armed forces, and the various interest groups, including non-government institutions.

No doubt the more articulate segment of the population, like the media, is likely to have a greater say in this process. Yet, for first time in the history of the country, large-scale institutional reforms are being publicly debated. This can ultimately lead to a national consensus regarding how best to ensure a more effective, more caring, and a more accountable system of governance.

There is an urgent need to reintroduce institutional checks and balances, whereby a strong, competent judiciary, the public accounts and finance committees of the Parliament, the Anti-corruption Commission, an independent Election Commission, can play their due roles. With reconstitution and revival of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Election Commission, Public Service Commission, the introduction of computerized voters' ID, and, now, the proposed reforms of the party system, Bangladesh would be embarking on the most remarkable and massive piece of social engineering in modern times.

Take preventive measures to fight corruption
The issue is, how do you deter corruption that has become so rampant and pervasive in the country? The first step, which has already been taken by the government, was to reconstitute the Anti-Corruption Commission, which had been practically defunct during the previous regime.

While Bangladesh had the dubious distinction of being at the top of the list of corrupt countries, the revived and reinvigorated ACC has probably also created a world record, netting within a short time the largest number of top political leaders, businessmen and bureaucrats for their alleged corruption. The commission is apparently on the fast track to prosecute and punish those who are to be tried under due process by the special courts.

But corruption can be of various kinds, and can take place at various levels. One has to distinguish between political corruption by the top leaders, and the more pervasive common form of corruption within the bureaucracy. It is important to take measures not only to punish those who resort to corrupt practices, but, more importantly, also for their prevention in the future.

Pervasive corruption within the bureaucracy can be prevented only through appropriate administrative reforms. We need systemic changes within the government, which will eliminate or reduce administrative red tape, procedural bottlenecks, and irrelevant government controls.

In other words, we have to reform administrative procedures, cut down government interventions, and deregulate government. We need to improve the transparency and accountability of government processes, especially where people turn to government offices to receive essential services. But such administrative reforms would be a more long-term exercise, and would have to be separately undertaken, on a continuing basis.

Immediate preventive measures are also needed if political corruption is to be curbed, and the nexus between abusive political power and need for party financing is to be effectively broken. While politicians in the past had also received financial support from businessmen, even during the British and then Pakistani times, it was always on a limited scale.

Private contributions were made to provide financial support to usually beleaguered politicians, and were truly personal contributions. Nor were there any allegations of extortion, which in recent times have invariably coincided with the big purchases or other financial deals.

It is interesting to see how the businessmen "lovingly" make their contributions these days to respective party coffers, following each new contract for building a flyover, installing a power plant, or purchasing a navy frigate. Our public procurement procedures have to be made more transparent, and concerned agencies made accountable for all financial transactions, big or small.

But the priority right now is to boldly pursue a set of institutional reforms that directly aim at preventing abuse of political power. Altogether fresh regulations have to be framed to set new standards for party governance and conduct of elections. The political parties, the Election Commission, and the Anti-corruption Commission should deliberate on the new regulatory regime.

My suggestions would be, firstly, to treat the funds at the disposal of political parties as public funds, to ensure full transparency of all finances and compliance with general accounting standards of the country. Accounts should be regularly audited, and an annual report should be published. Secondly, procedures have to be prescribed for raising public funds, and setting limits to campaign contributions.

We need to remember that political parties, including the Awami League, had, in fact, started off with mere two anna membership to encourage the growth of a genuine popular base. A third area for regulation would be to limit campaign expenditures, which the Election Commission presumably is now actively considering.

Recently, a committee led by Mr.Motiul Islam and former Election Commission functionaries suggested guidelines for limiting campaign expenditures. In addition, there remains the question of providing government subsidy, or other support in kind, to recognized candidates to defray bonafide campaign expenses, which is a practice in many other countries.

Probably, the most important change has to be in the mindsets, in the attitudes, of political leaders themselves. They need not be angels, but they should be perceived by the general public as "good" people -- leaders who can set examples for others and motivate them to attain national goals.

We need not go very far, but look at the standard of living and quality of leadership provided by some of the top leaders of our neighbouring countries. It would be important for our parties to have a code of conduct that attaches the highest values to integrity, austerity, and public accountability. These were the qualities of our early leaders, who were known for their plain living and high thinking.

They became leaders not by virtue of their birth or because of their wealth -- Moulana Bhashani, AK Fazlul Huq, Sheikh Mujib, or Ziaur Rahman had not acquired any wealth because of their family connections, political power, or the great influence they exercised over the business people. They acquired the qualities of leadership over time, after considerable struggle, self-sacrifice and work with their local constituencies.

The leadership of the future must mature through an institutional process. That is why the local government institutions at the union, district and municipal levels need to be urgently revitalized, so that they can provide the schooling for our future leadership.

A decentralized local government structure, therefore, becomes a prerequisite for mature, responsible, political development, and for good leadership to emerge from the grassroots.

Khalid Shams is a former civil servant and Deputy Managing Director of Grameen Bank.