One on the dock is showing defiance by recalling one's background as the scion of landlords while another is showing displeasure by disdainfully observing that a reincarnation would be needed for the reversal of fortune. It is clear that desperation is showing that the vitriolic exchanges are missing the mark.

There are two messages to be read from the times Bangladesh is passing through. One, the country is where the drift of the past has brought it. Two, the general people want this drift to end, and expect that the task of the caretaker government is all about charting the road to renewal.

It is a fact that over the last so many years the country has been in a state of drift of varying degrees. Bangladesh is not unique in this regard. There are many other countries in the world that are in even greater misery. Nigeria, a far more resourceful country, has 70% of its population subsisting on $ 1 a day. This is not to lessen the load of failure but to commend the awakening that the drift has to end and a renewal has to begin.

The drift was in the system, and the failure was in governance. Every regime abused the system and messed around with governance. They either subverted or rode political democracy into constitutional power. It is here, in its political conduct and in the exercise of democracy, that Bangladesh drifted the most.

Political parties became temples for hero-worship. As a result, parties turned into legacies of personal domains. Naturally, the practice of democracy was the least important affair in the political parties. The leadership of the parties became autocratic in nature. Politics in Bangladesh turned into servile courts of submission, and saw phenomenal rise of fawning neophytes.

The leaders, invoking the mantras of their patron saints, sat on the pedestal, while the rest conducted themselves like faithful devotees. One cannot sensibly think that any system could prosper in this kind of set up.

The rituals continued. It was the fear of erosion of dynastic authority that led to the 12th amendment, to invest all the powers in the prime minister, leaving the president a mere figurehead. Dissent was made blasphemy. Only the leader was given the authority to deem what was right and to scorn what was wrong.

It is a scenario where "duty shall have dread to speak when power to flattery bows." That is how a president, but few months elected, was hounded out of office. The nation never came to know how Professor B. Chowdhury committed sacrilege, and what made the guillotine inevitable.

It was a lamentable case of abasement of the office of the head of state. The offices of the head of the caretaker government and the chief election commissioner met similar, ignominious fates. Every office descended into disrepute and declined in stature.

The political parties of Bangladesh rarely talk to each other, and whenever they talk it fails. The last time they worked together was during the 12th amendment. They do not trust one another. This is rather strange when at the polls they seek the trust of the people to rule the country.

One may rightly ask why should the people trust those who do not trust one another? The vibes between the AL and the BNP chiefs are not good. The bigwigs in the two parties know it well, thinking "come not between the dragon and his wrath."

There never has been a successful dialogue between the two. Such an attitude, therefore, did not encourage democratic culture in the country. Had it happened, the national parliament would have developed into a strong national institution. It did not, and the national parliament limped on as an ineffectual chamber.

Every issue was taken out into the street, and the country was taken hostage in the fiercest manner. There were gruesome killings by marauding AL foot soldiers, and torching of innocent bus passengers to death by AL youth firebrands. While fiendish ferocity was the forte of AL its counterpart BNP schemed and crafted all sorts of election villainy.

It is natural that polls will generate heat and passion. It is the privilege to rule that the political parties and politicians seek. But the script for Bangladesh's election is typically its own, before and after the election. The nomination period becomes a brisk trading season for the political parties. Prospective and secure seats go to the largest bidder. In this way, a happy wedding of politics and business takes place.

Business tycoons and candidates from prosperous business houses buy nominations at a hefty price, to build greater clout and to acquire a mantle of invulnerability. After the polls are over the spoils belong to the victors, who then become soldiers of fortune.

A fair degree of patronage by the ruling party is seen for those from the opposition, particularly where it matters, as long as it brings the conciliation fees. Then comes the bickering over say in the parliament. The boycotts begin, and in a listless chamber the ruling party legislators also become habitual absentees.

The cost of keeping a desolate chamber is passed on to the nation. Add to it the cost of the 65-member cabinet the outgoing government started with and maintained for a long time. The drift was of grossly callous nature.

The drift has cost Bangladesh excellence. The saddest part of this drift is that now, in Bangladesh, mediocrity wears the crown. Everywhere the standard has gone down. The soldiers of fortune have made almost every sector of national life their domain. Bangladesh is fortunate that it now knows where things went wrong. And it has the opportunity before it to chart the road to renewal.

The foremost asking is to make the parliament an effective body for all time to come. In matters of executive power, checks and balances will make it discreet. Indeed, the prime minister will head the government, but the office should not necessarily have powers to make the PM a sovereign.

The present effort should learn from the perils of the past. The opposition may not be an active partner in governance, but it should be taken into confidence for constructive engagement. The integration should serve the national purpose.

On the other hand, the president should be the head of the state in the real sense of the term, and the office should exercise a respectable degree of executive power. Law, the Election Commission, and defence should be the prerogative of the highest office of the country.

Bangladesh cannot afford to fall into unscrupulous hands again. For the unscrupulous rarely relinquish their hold. Let us remember Edmund Burke in this regard, that "those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though for but one year, can never willingly abandon it."

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