The CTG was our last hope for sustenance of multi-party democracy in Bangladesh at a time when the caretaker government of Iajuddin Ahmed was leading the country to hell.

Leaders and politically conscious people across the globe were outraged and frustrated when the CTG took a decision to exile the two top political leaders of Bangladesh. Thank God sanity has prevailed, and they have reversed their hasty decision.

Now they should concentrate fully on creating an administrative structure to hold the national election at the shortest possible time. Let the Election Commission (EC) opt for voter list with photo, instead of their grand design of national ID or social security card, to get the job done within few months time.

Bangladeshi kids know why the owl, although not great looking, became the king of birds. While other lovely birds were trying to be perfect in appearance, the owl did not care for perfection but got the job done. Therefore, the ugly owl is also a symbol of wisdom.

Time is money, and it waits for none. The EC must not waste any more time on grand designs that can hardly be achieved, given the inherent limitations and constraints. A successful strategy is one, which takes note of not only the strength and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, but also the possibilities of effective implementation.

Crafting a strategy is not enough. It has to be implement-able within the given time and resource constraints. Secondly, reform is a dynamic process, and if it is imposed from the top and from outside, it will be short lived and may be totally rejected.

Bangladeshis love democracy, and they are proud that their country had a multi-party democracy. Therefore, it would be advisable for the CTG to stay away from unnecessary issues that have little relevance to holding a free and fair election at this time, so that they don't lose "credibility."

Credibility and people's confidence are very, very important. If they lose credibility, then they cannot hold a credible election. Such a situation may lead the nation toward anarchy and military takeover. Moreover, all the corruption cases would also be jeopardized.

The CTG must be correctly focused, and must not move away from its promised goal of holding a free, fair and credible election. It is also advisable to hold the election as early as possible, maybe by January 2008.

The weather condition in Bangladesh is generally comfortable, and rural roads are also accessible during December-January-February. Therefore, they should fix the national election day on the first Tuesday of January. This is nothing new. In the U S, the 1st Tuesday of November is election day, and Graduation Day at the Harvard University is in the second week of June.

When the CTG was trying to exile the Begums, a distinguished scholar of Somalia Abdullahi Ahmed wrote, and I quote: "In my country Somalia, which has been in dire straits for almost two decades, the sad episode that has been continuing for such a long time was caused by the overthrow of a civilian government by a military junta headed by the dictator General Siyad Barre in 1969 on the pretext of eliminating corruption ... After the coup, he immediately embarked upon the destruction of the state by interfering in every government institution -- both civil and military -- and he destroyed politicians and, thus, created confusion and chaos in every sector of the state. Siyad Barre was the cause of the intractable situation we are in. The warlords you have mentioned in your article are similar to the vultures that eat what is left of a carcass after the larger carnivores have eaten their fill."

He further wrote, "Bangladeshis are tough people. I believe they will never accept to be ruled by the military, as is the case in Pakistan. Let us all pray that the emergency rule in Bangladesh is for a very short time, similar to the morning mist!"

Are all politicians evil?
It is fashionable in these days of disinformation and army-backed government to blame politicians for all the evils of the last 36 years. But facts tell a different story. The question is, is there an ulterior motive in such a disinformation campaign?

All critical macroeconomic indicators of Bangladesh, from 1975 through 2005, show that both the growth rate and enhancement of public consciousness (like free press, Channel i, ATN Bangla, NTV, privatization of communications like Grameen Phone, etc) and resolution of national issues (such as Water Treaty, Peace Deal, etc) were achieved during the political period.

While the average per capita income growth rate during military or quasi-military-technocratic period was 3.9% per annum from 1975 through 1990, it sharply increased to an average of 5.9% per annum during the political period, in spite of polarization and rivalry between the Begums.

Investment and savings rates almost doubled and tripled respectively during political period vis-à-vis military rule. See a comparative analysis of macro economic indicators of Bangladesh in the table below for 1975-2005.

More importantly, allowing inquisitive media to raise issues of accountability, as is happening in Bangladesh today, dramatically improved under the political period. In addition, the historic Ganges Water Treaty and the Chittagong Hill Tract Peace Deal were signed under political governments.

The military governments of Bangladesh raised the Ganges water sharing issue at the UN General Assembly, and tons of money was spent on the Farakka issue at home and abroad, to no avail.

In the 36 years of Bangladesh (the first 3.5 years was a reconstruction period after a massive civil war, and should not be counted in any comparative analysis), it is military and military backed civilian-cum-technocrat governments that ran the affairs of Bangladesh for almost 16.5 years.

They accentuated the creation of institutional weaknesses and promoted corruption, like Somalia's Siyad Barre, that culminated in becoming ugly and all pervasive in the last few years of the 4-party coalition government. There is no denying that both Major Gen. Ziaur Rahman's and Lt. Gen. HM Ershad's governments corrupted the administration and their hand-picked politicians. Then why blame only the politicians?

The issue is; it would be a disservice to the nation building efforts if we put all the blame only on politicians and, thus, allow a "free ride" to others who are also equally responsible.

In each group, army, politicians, bureaucracy, bankers, journalists, NGO executives, to name a few, there are good and bad elements -- they have to be identified. Blaming one over the other is a disservice, and escapism.

Dr. Abdul Momen is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.