Don't get me wrong; I said some of them. After crouching low for a couple of months, they are back in business. Give us this. Give us that. They have begun demanding various facilities, and even money to contest elections!

They want their arrested compatriots freed unconditionally, and they want the ban on internal politics to be lifted immediately. They want bail for their dacoit friends. They want division in jail for thieves. They want elections at the earliest. The bottom line is, they want to go on a joy-ride once again with their merry band of marauders.

Look at the other side of the story. While the entire nation still remains aghast, stunned, stupefied, dazed and profoundly angered at the extent of theft and robbery by their kind, surprisingly, politicians hardly talk about corruption.

They never demand severe and exemplary punishment for those politicians who have made millions in terms of dollars through massive abuse of power. They are pointing fingers in all directions but not at themselves!

They never handed over to the police those corrupt elements who cheated the country of revenue worth billions of Taka by under-invoicing the quotations for expensive cars; by over-invoicing each and every supply and manufacturing contract; by cutting down pristine hills; denuding forests; drying up water-bodies; grabbing state property; grabbing prime plots in the capital; grabbing railway land; taking commission against each and every signature; collecting toll by force from bazaars, shops, factories and business concerns of their locality; by taking commission from peon to secretary for appointment and promotion; by taking commission from old and poor teachers for releasing their pension money, and so on.

Here is another aspect worth looking deep into. Presently, the entire country is talking about reforms of the political and electoral systems. The nation wants a voter list with photos to make it as authentic as possible in order to ensure free, fair and credible elections in the coming days. But we hear nothing substantial from the politicians about it.

To be candid, reform does not seem to be the most popular subject among the politicians, and whenever asked they prefer to keep mum about it. When asked about practice of democracy and cleansing operation within the party, they mumble something that does not quite make any sense. See the funny side of it, they go public seeking (read begging) votes, but when it comes to reforms in the party they say it is their internal affair.

Well, they may not talk about reforms, or corruption, or their bank accounts, or Humvees, or even transparent ballot boxes, but they have started to talk about elections. Their hearts and minds are focused only on elections.

They hardly care about the suffering of the farmers in the fields, or workers in the factories, or fishermen in the rivers, or our expatriate labour force suffering in foreign countries. All they care about is how to go to power.

So the questions that naturally come to our minds are: What will this same band of politicians do once they go to power? Are they qualified and skilled enough to build this country into the modern, developed country that we dream of?

Well, to be frank, we have our doubts, because they have left behind a legacy of sheer indiscipline, incompetence and absurdity. They have proved again and again that all they are good at is attacking the opposition on the streets in a shameless manner, and letting loose verbal tirades in every public meeting, in every talk show, and even inside parliament.

We have seen in the last fifteen years that they are not qualified enough to talk about developing the IT sector to compete with the modern world.

They are not informed enough to discuss the intricate points concerning our energy reserves, and whether we should conserve or export; they have no knowledge concerning our mineral resources and what to do about them; they have no idea about the merits and demerits of genetically modified organisms, especially crops, fruits and fish etc.; they have no clue about how to improve the health sector; they have no expertise to talk about finding an alternative export oriented product to earn foreign currency in case garments export suffers a set-back in the future.

And yet, ironically, the country's fate is entwined with these grossly incompetent people who are in politics and who wield authority. Is there no way we can find better people to run the country?

The answer lies in our unwavering determination to look for them, and give them the chance. But do we have the determination? Do we have the time? Shall we be able to sustain the pressure for long?

Shahnoor Wahid is Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.