It would have been four had Raushan Ershad not been marginalized. Her presence in Bangladesh has been brief, but her participation has been reasonably prominent. The US ambassador naturally enjoys the greatest clout.

This has further been highlighted by the importance of the time we are passing through. Her, and the British High Commissioner's, bonhomie with our outgoing state minister for home caught special attention.

The United States of America is the greatest arbiter in the global order. It carries lot of weight in Third World countries like Bangladesh, for a number of reasons. The aid may decline into a pittance, but there is trade to look after, the burgeoning expatriate community to think of and, above all, the US is Shangri La.

Her farewell comment has been on the reforms in political parties. She observed in the interview that the reforms or changes should not be "imposed" on the political parties, and they should come from within the political parties.

Generally speaking, she has been quite correct in saying that, but for the fact that the context is Bangladesh! It is the perception that forms the image. The perception she holds carries the tradition and practices of over 200 years, and those of her country. Even that tradition could not prevent the "unpresidented" presidential polls imbroglio of 2000.

By that standard, Bangladesh's 15-year dalliance with democracy is a brief period, and an utterly unwholesome one at that. The playing field was so fouled up that it was unplayable, and the system was to stumble and it stumbled. It was not a peaceful standoff, rather a pestilential breakdown that took the nation hostage.

America went to war on slavery but, thank God, Bangladesh came out unscathed from the constitutional breakdown. For struggling nations, when help is needed it should arrive in time and all at a time. Madame Butenis surely understands that this one is not a mere political crisis for Bangladesh, but a matter of national urgency.

If western democracies are rose gardens, Bangladesh, because of its fecundity and passion, is an "unweeded" garden. Democracy in Bangladesh is yet to come out of the cult of hero-worship. The two major political parties, the Awami League and the BNP, thrive on the phenomenal popularity of their patron saints.

It has become a matter of legacy, and the legacy has been passed on to the two ladies. The politicians, the few that have their own base, found it expedient to submit to the ideological torpor of becoming the faithful among the faithful, instead of perishing on the altar of their beliefs.

Hero-worship attracts many slavish followers, since rewards know moral scruples. Naturally, politics in Bangladesh has seen hibernation of the elders, and luxuriant growth of servile and parasitical faithfuls. Standing committee, executive committee and presidium vegetated as names, with their members blissful in their torpor.

Democracy and politics in Bangladesh had become a garden of rank growth. Its inherent capacity has been impaired. It needs a gardener for a while, and the CTG happens to be the only one for the time. Isn't it fair that a local gardener should, obviously and justly, be the best choice? Madame Butenis has been off the mark there.

Madame Butenis is the ambassador of USA, the leader of the world, and that has also to be taken into consideration. America has its own agenda, the foremost being to secure and strengthen its worldwide sphere of influence.

Global security, peace, and human rights, are its favourite catchwords. The latest addition is democracy, and President GW Bush is its new exponent. America has assumed the role of a constant gardener. It's ambassador's interest in the politics and democracy of Bangladesh is an expression of policy concern. This has a greater urgency for Madame Butenis, because she is moving to a more beleaguered posting in Baghdad!

America, the constant gardener, is busy these days in intensifying its focus on democracy in the Middle East and, by association, in Moslem countries. The weapon of mass destruction campaign in Iraq has become "free the people of Iraq from the despot Saddam and establish democracy."

A sovereign and independent country was occupied, the despot has been sent to the gallows, yet democracy is far from being functional in Iraq. Polls have been held. It turned out to be an opportunity for the dominant ethnic groups to establish their numerical superiority, and to make the score even in ethnic vendetta.

The social compact has broken down. Peace dies everyday in car bomb attacks. The death toll is not far from 1 million mark. America's lofty vision of democracy in Iraq has become a constant nightmare for the Iraqi people.

We understand that Iraq's own gardener Saddam was not the best of men, but he kept the garden from being run over by ethnic feuds that went berserk after his fall. It proves that even the best of constant gardeners cannot tend every garden!

It will not be fair to say that America is incapable of understanding that every country ultimately finds its own of way running its own affairs. It takes time, it may exact a human toll, but when madness tires out the point of arrival is reached.

The point of arrival is the understanding that freedom must be tempered with order. Prince Metternich, the Austrian diplomat, rightly said: "The word 'freedom' means for me not a point of departure but a genuine point of arrival. The point of departure is defined by the word 'order.' Freedom cannot exist without the concept of order."

A country, in spite of foreboding odds, is best served when left alone for its own gardeners to tend. If, indeed, the human toll is of catastrophic nature the UN is there. The western African nations have come out of macabre bloodletting.

Liberia has even elected a lady as its president. Even Congo is showing signs of recovery. Spain and Portugal languished under dictators for over thirty years, but have ultimately charted their own democratic course. They did it without the services of a constant gardener.

The success of Bangladesh in its democratic trial can prove to be a model for the whole world. It is a third world country with more than its fair share of wants and ills. Naturally, the wants and ills that come with development will spread moral decay and venality in the political system.

Thankfully, the time of reckoning came when the country needed it most. Most propitious of all, understanding has dawned on us as a nation that the right to rule is not a reward but a responsibility. The best way to help Bangladesh is to leave it to do what it is capable of doing.

Syed Maqsud Jamil is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.