The moral majorities reckon that Bangladesh's political system needs change. Both Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina came to power with the slogan of "change!" But alas, rather than changing Bangladeshi politics, perhaps they themselves got changed by Bangladeshi politics. Bizarrely, they have not only misruled, but also widened the gap between the rulers and the ruled and, all too often, the ruled were viewed simply as material for exploitation.

A study by Transparency International, an anti-corruption campaign group, reveals that recent governments of both the BNP and the Awami League were almost neck-deep in corruption and scandals, but the Awami League government was better at keeping dodgy business under wraps. The autocratic habits and deep mutual loathing of their leaders were the main cause of the mess. Most political observers squirm to think how badly the leaders had messed up the politics and democracy of this country. They may be basking in the belief that they are above the law, because they know that in our country there is one law for the rich and powerful and another for the poor and the forlorn. They perhaps also believe that money plus access to power equals impunity.

We hope for a Bangladesh where rule of law governs the conduct of the politicians. Unsurprisingly, on December 14th 2006 Tony Blair became the first serving British prime minister to be questioned by police conducting a criminal investigation. This was a part of an investigation into the murky business of party financing. If British police can question a sitting prime minister on criminal charges, why caretaker government should shilly-shally to bring to trial ex-leaders, when most people know or believe beyond a shadow of a doubt their involvement in misfeasance.

Bangladesh has long turned a blind eye to the bribery, fiddles, frauds and cancer of corruption. Fortunately, the Chief of Anti-corruption Commission is denouncing sleaze and piously promising to clean up corruption and establish good governance. Accordingly, the present caretaker government has already ratified the United Nations Convention against corruption and passed comprehensive legislation to meet its new obligations.

Opinion polls show that big majorities of the electorate are really fed-up and disillusioned with professional politicians and they expect a new leader of vision to come forward and pursue new kind of politics that tries to unite unhealthily divided people of this country. At a time when most Asian countries are quickly moving to become vibrant democracy, we in Bangladesh are gloriously marching backward.

Winston Churchill in his own favourite phrase once explained the problem of politicians. He said that "is not that they are ignorant, it is that they know too many things that are not true." Perhaps Mr. Churchill's quip is quite right in the present context of Bangladesh. For example, both the governments of Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia tried to solve our energy problem by allowing Bangladesh Power Development Board, the inefficient state monopoly, to spend more rather than invite private investment. Power Development Board miserably failed to live up to the expectation of the people. To allow state monopoly to improve infrastructure such as transport links and communication networks is an unaffordable luxury in this competitive world.

Scare-mongering about India and America has become a national pastime of many politicians. They dislike the prospect of the Americans building and running our deep seaport, because it means foreigners taking control of our port. In a global economy, with mobile capital, it can be hard to say where ultimate ownership lies anyway. The real test is whether a foreign buyer manages the investment well and improves productivity. Moreover, the Americans cannot take our port back with them. In electoral politics, good policy often becomes hostage to politics.

The proposal to open up our common borders and provide transit facilities to India is a highly controversial and politically sensitive issue for the policymakers. Supporters of Islamist parties, specially, BNP's coalition partner the Jamaat-e-Islami mistakenly assumes that India harbours hegemonic design in this region. It will take brave and imaginative politicians to persuade the nation that if we allow such facilities to our near neighbours, it will be a win-win situation for all the countries of the region. Foreign toll road companies and toll operators will be tempted to invest heavily in Bangladesh to develop infrastructures and build motorways and expressways to link our seaport with India and Myanmar. The advantage of toll roads and bridges is that they raise money from car users instead of general tax-payers. Most economists think that a road with a toll is better than no road at all.

In spite of the country's good macro-economic performance, unemployment and poverty remain widespread and many people feel left behind by the government's economic policies. Strangely enough, most of our lawmakers are not politicians, they are political businessmen and their only interest is self-interest. They seem incapable of realising the depth and complexity of the problems our country faces. Millions of people survive on less than one dollar a day. Nearly half of the country's children are undernourished and majority of our women are illiterate. Bangladesh still remains one of the poorest and corrupt countries in the world.

With the outbursts of defeatism among many senior BNP leaders, Begum Zia apparently resigned herself to the harsh political reality, but it seems Sheikh Hasina thinks this whole episode is a strange twist of destiny and she is set to make politics of Bangladesh "business as usual" once again. After everything that has gone so wrong, it would perhaps be foolish to argue that Sheikh Hasina's plan is certain to succeed. Even if it does this may not be a victory in any normal sense.

Both Sheikh Hasina and Begum Zia rose to power in a man's world by playing men's rules without militant feminism or special attention to gender. They dominated the politics of this crowded and impoverished country for more than two decades. Perhaps they have now become the wrong kind of leaders for this kind of era and their frantic politics has rather become a national embarrassment.

Anam A Choudhury is a former investment banker.