This is because people in the country do not any more want to see a rigged, flawed, or poorly conducted election. And this unseemly talk-fest has hit an institution that should by and large be above controversy, especially at this critical time of the nation in a land where almost everything concerned with public office has been touched by ignominy and scandal.

With the EC being blissfully oblivious of what was happening around the polling centres in the country in past elections, people were intimidated to cast their votes as musclemen directed. With a weak EC having neither the armour nor the charisma to rein in the saboteurs, there occur stuffing of ballot boxes and fake voting, and there were apprehensions of such drama being repeated in the forthcoming election.

In view of the bitter memories of the past people feel that in absence of a tough, dynamic, charismatic and neutral chiefs of both the CG and EC, election result may be flawed again and such election will not resolve the contentious issues in the country but will only add to the misery of the people.

As for Justice Hasan, he comes with records that show he belonged to a party holding a very responsible position that brought laurels for him as an ambassador although he never served in the foreign service. Secondly, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, he felt embarrassed to hear the appeal of the Bangabandhu murder case quite justifiably as one of the convicted persons happened to be his close relative. But he could have made recommendation to the President of the Republic asking for fresh appointment or elevation of judges so that the hearing could go on even without him.

Apparently with a clear objective in mind, BNP extended the retirement age of the judges of the apex court so that Chief Justice KM Hasan could be the chief adviser of the interim caretaker government during election 2007. Facts reveal that the then Chief Justice Mahmudul Amin's proposal for enhancing the retirement age of the Supreme Court judges on March 6, 2002 was not acted upon at that time until after Mahmudul Amin retired on June 18 the same year.

Had his proposal been implemented at that time, he would have retired in June 2005 turning out to be the last retired judge and would have been the eligible candidate to hold the post of the chief adviser. Doubts and conjectures remain as to whether Justice Hasan will return the favour and even if he does, how he will return it.

It is quite natural for Justice Hasan, an eminently sensible and meritorious person as he is, to refuse to accept such stupendous responsibility at such a crucial time in the interest of the nation. It goes without saying that judges, whether they are in service or retired, when appointed in different probe bodies or commissions as public crusaders cleaning up the system, have always won all-round applause.

People quite reasonably expect that these men who have delivered the most hard-hitting judgments would themselves remain accountable to the public and would not allow their images to be tarnished, especially at such an unstable time in the nation's history. If Justice Hasan feels embarrassed once again, his role will be an exemplary one and he can help steer the nation out of the mess it is in.

The electorate, though they number among the poorest and oppressed in South Asia, would after decades of neglect and impoverishment like to vote in a free and fair manner to bring about a change in their lives.

With the top leaders of both the parties never talking to each other and the chiefs hurling threats the dialogue may ultimately become a solemn farce and the result a foregone conclusion.

Pictures of shops with shutters down, vehicles torched, and police beating the protesters and picketers in no way boost the image of the country, already ravaged by power outage, fertilizer crisis, and acute transportation problem.

The country has begun to look quite helpless with debts deepening, inadequate revenue collection, services falling apart, prices of essentials spiraling, crime and drugs peddling rising and the most vicious of all being academic institutions becoming non-functional as a consequence of murderous activities in the campuses.

In a word, a sinking feeling has come over the whole nation. But leadership in such a crisis is a superhuman quality that must be called into play. There is no doubt that almost all crises are consequences of blunders we have committed earlier.

History abounds with instances of great leaders imbued with statesmanship and pragmatism playing a very crucial role in setting the record straight and saving their country from ignominy. At the moment, the ruling alliance and the opposition are caught in a crisis of unusual dimensions with the possibility of either rising to the occasion or failing. We only wish wisdom prevails and we advance to polls with prudence.

Md. Asadullah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET.