Yes, the "minus-two" formula seems to have been reinvigorated in the kaleidoscopic political landscape of Bangladesh. Interestingly enough, many BNP reformists seem to be rallying round their reform guru Mannan Bhuyian, while AL reformist kingpins are also not sitting idle. However, the general people are watching things with great interest and judging the happenings from their own viewpoints.

Truly, reform is more than essential. But what for? For the devoted yet neglected party leaders, reform is for purging the parties of unhealthy elements. For the opportunists, however, reform has turned out to be an escape route and, in a sense, an avenue for respectable rehabilitation. But, what special import does reform have for the common people? Yes, I can say for sure that people want unfailing reassurances, or rather, guarantees.

Yes, the people want a guarantee from the political leaders that they will get permanent relief and redemption from all the evils the leaders had inflicted upon them in collusion with decaying machineries, crooked mechanisms, patronised musclemen, and overpowering mafias.

To be frank, reform for democratisation within the parties is a bare necessity, but emancipation from the clutches of hardened criminals in the guise of political leaders bears real significance for the common people.

Yes, the people want a guarantee that no minister or leader will loot public money and build palaces, while people languish in abject poverty. If the ministers decide to go straight, the officials under them will always be under obligation to follow suit.

Meanwhile, a campaign against corrupt officials is also on. People also want the leaders to say that they will not use luxury vehicles while the people hang like monkeys in and outside the crammed public transports.

Yes, the people want a guarantee that no minister or leader will turn himself into a godfather, thereby turning public life into a veritable hell by his own, or his hooligans', actions. People also want permanent relief from the relatives and hooligans of leaders who snatch people's property. People also want a firm guarantee that there will not be a rebirth of maastans who grow up to be petty godfathers under the care of leaders and mafias.

The people want a guarantee from the leaders that national institutions will not be turned into rehabilitation centres for party cadres, and that party-loyalty or money will not be the criterion for being selected for government jobs.

People also want a guarantee that recruitments will not be made for serving the party rather than the country, and that question papers of various examinations will not be leaked to facilitate entry of unqualified party cadres in government jobs.

People want a guarantee from the leaders that people who toe the party line will not man responsible positions. Rather, that people of caliber and commitment, who will remain committed to performing their duties efficiently for the best interests of the nation, would be in such positions. Yes, people also a want guarantee that they will not be fleeced by business syndicates that operated mostly under state patronisation in the past.

Unfortunately, the syndicates were so ingrained in the previous political regime that even the current interim government is yet to be successful in debunking the sinister cartel. This, however, makes it imperative for the political leaders to hammer out practical measures to salvage the country from the curse of unremitting syndication.

People want a guarantee that they will be able to move on the streets without the threat of being attacked by hartal picketers. People also want a guarantee that they will not be burnt alive in vehicles set on fire by hartal supporters, or saboteurs.

People want a guarantee from the leaders that none of their acts will induce calls of unending blockades, and that the blockade supporters will not paralyse public life and hold back people's movements for life and livelihood.

Yes, people also want a guarantee that no prime minister will sit idle despite knowing the fact that his son is engaged in patronising militants, a deadly game which threatened to tear apart our nationhood in the recent past.

Yes, the people also want a guarantee that no prime minister will advocate for a hated criminal and roar that the criminal will survive, and the ones who are out to nab him will be finished.

To put it bluntly, reforms that guarantee people's true redemption are the reforms the people are interested in. However, any reform for reinstitution or rehabilitation of crooked leaders -- no matter whether they are reformists or conformists -- is unlikely to go down well with the battered and shattered people of the land. They have had enough of it. Believe me! They are no more ready to make do with superficial changes.

Nothing short of foolproof assurances of total deliverance from the future misdeeds of the leaders and their retinue is likely to gratify them. Such a scenario might appear too idealistic, but another opportunity to seek such a state of affairs might not reappear in our lifetime. Arguably, a tug of war among reformists and conformists in major political parties is on the cards.

There is, then, every possibility of people's expectations and desires being sandwiched in between. In the cutthroat rivalry for establishing command in the parties, leaders might even revert back to their heinous activities and trample the redeeming features of the intended reforms. A constant vigilance on the part of the citizenry is thus sine qua non, so that the all-important "redemption" issue does not get lost in the hullabaloo.

Kazi S.M. Khasrul Alam Quddusi is Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, University of Chittagong.