As a result, the BNP under the hidden leadership of its secretary general, Abdul Mannan Bhuyian, has just released a 15 point reform slate for his party. The AL has been releasing its reform proposals bit by bit through the senior leaders in their so-called "individual capacity." So far the presidium members Abdul Razzak, Tofail Ahmed and Suranjit Sengupta spoke to the media with new measures.

The JP (Ershad), third largest party in the last parliament, has made it clear that the former president and party chief HM Ershad has called the day with, of course, a big if. That is, if the grassroots of the party, after the current ban in politics is lifted, wishes him to return at the helm, he would certainly reconsider.

The reform agendas of the BNP, while they sound very interesting, given the party's past record, however, are not free from caveats. The reforms must be ratified by the party councillors who are regarded as grass-roots supporters of the party.

These councillors, according to the BNP constitution, represent the party branches from the upazila to the centre. It has been claimed that this party has almost 3,000 councillors nationwide. It also appears that the national council for this party did not meet in the last 14 years. With these in mind, I would like to make some observations on the BNP's proposed rules for the game.

What is new in the secretary general's reform proposal? Among other things, most importantly, it is clear that the BNP's current chairperson automatically ceases working if the reform measures had been ratified in full by the majority in the council.

This is certainly no less than a civilian coup against the incumbent chief of the party.

Who would have thought of a BNP minus Khaleda Zia even six months back? At this juncture, however, a fundamental question remains: has the reform gone far enough? While technically dropping Khalead Zia from the top job addresses a part of the present crisis, nothing has said in the reform about the bottom. It is needless to mention that while the politics has been rotten at the top, the so-called grass-roots at the bottom were not spared either.

What the nation witnessed over the last 15 years is that the tens and thousands of political cadres turned almost all the villages into dens of terror. This took a serious turn immediately after the general election of 2001. This daily, for example, ran an investigative series on this subject in 2002. Unfortunately, the atrocities began in 2001 by the BNP-Jamaat cadres with the nod of their godfathers (some now in custody) to wipe out opposition, did not rest until 1/11.

Over the whole period of the BNP-Jamaat rule (2001-2006), a common phrase among unemployed youths in the villages was: "Ami BNP kori (I belong to the BNP)."

What does it mean? It means: "I am above the law and the village elders must submit their allegiance to the cadres like me." Like the mafia, the godfathers in politics through their cronies and cadres destroyed the age old non-partisan, non-political co-existence of rural ordinary Bangladeshis.

The true grassroots support base of a political party or parties at village level has completely disappeared and has been replaced by the cadre roots of the godfathers. This resulted in taking into custody of more than 200,000 political cadres nationwide by the joint forces over the last six months.

This is a damage done, unfortunately, could not be repaired in a generation let alone next year or the year after. The BNP reform measures, however, have remained silent about this whole episode.

Moreover, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan has been in the record in saying that his party is in great trouble now since a huge number of the party men and women have been taken into custody under the emergency rules. This suggests reform or not, when the grassroots cadres become free, the secretary general has intentions to play the game again in keeping them in the squad.

He has no plan yet for the cadres who committed atrocities over 2001 and 2006. I am sure, after 2008 when normalcy in politics has been restored through holding general election, these cadres would surface again with ruthless vengeance against people who oppose them.

If the remnant of shameless godfathers and their cadres get another chance, I am afraid the consequences would be unthinkable regardless of what colour unfolds in politics after 2008.

Hence, I would like to put forward to the reformist parties a simple proposal to begin with a genuine damage control. In my view, the political parties should observe a self-imposed moratorium under the close eyes of the EC on operating a party branch below upazila level over the next two terms.

More specifically, there shall be no branches of political parties operating below upazila level until 2015. There shall be no subscription or fees allowed to be collected from the supporters below the level of upazila branch.

In this regard, however, the BNP reform measures offer that the branches can be operated at ward level instead of formerly village level under the gram sarkar law introduced under the leadership of Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan in 2005. This gesture of the BNP, I am afraid, is too little too late.

The above proposal of moratorium would certainly bring peace and harmony among the millions of rural inhabitants and would help restore the age-old social capital concerning informal, but effective authority of elders to run the village affairs.

This would also help make the youths in the village a good citizen instead of turning to the prey of political masters.

Dr. Moazzem Hossain is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.