The Hobbesian scenario of life becoming brutish and short because the laws of nature do not allow "without the terror of some power" to implement justice and equity does not necessarily have to be translated into reality if the "last hope," the honourable president in the case of Bangladesh, were to implement the will of the people without fear or favour of either contestants in the forthcoming general elections.

In the exercise of the powers vested in the CTG it would be prudent to remember Harold Laski's words that "underlying the doctrine of collective responsibility is that the government should be held continuously accountable for its actions, so that it always faces the possibility that a major mistake may result in a withdrawal of parliamentary support."

Since the CTG concept had not been invented during Laski's lifetime the parliamentary support he has spoken of may be translated as support of the people. It is crystal clear that Machiavellian manipulation earlier put in place by the immediate past government has been found out and some of the major political parties will not participate in the elections unless the demands put forward for enabling conditions to hold a free and fair election are met. It is unwise to resort to midnight manipulation and consequently widen the gap between the CTG and his advisors because of an erroneous belief that South Asia has become accustomed to family rule -- Bandernaiks in Sri Lanka, Nehrus in India, Bhuttos in Pakistan -- without considering the fact that like John Adams and John Quincy Adams and George H Bush and George W Bush the South Asian families were elected through free and fair elections.

In India when the then prime minister imposed emergency and sent her opponents to prison the people in turn sent her to the political wilderness for a while. These are finer moments of democracy in practice. The ruler, even if appointed for a short period, must listen to the voice of the people because ultimately the people is sovereign and their representative only rules in their name.

Time has come for Bangladeshis to declare that the baton of power cannot be passed to an incompetent son as a family legacy without people's approval.

We have matured to claim our place in the sun, to celebrate Kansat, Shanir Ankhra, Barapukuria revolt by the people for water and electricity, to demand accountability from the people in power who are unable to account for their misdeeds, to deny money and muscle as the key to gaining power and looting state treasury because muscle will bring in criminals and money is likely to represent the interests of the business community.

One cannot but wonder as to why in the affluent residential sections of Dhaka city cars and buses ply during hartal and siege when the rest of the country is shut down. Without going into the merits of hartal/aborodh one wonders whether the people residing in those islands of affluence are not the beneficiaries of the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

No less importantly we have to guard against the rise of militants who by all accounts still have a strong foothold in the country. How else can one explain the European Parliament's anxious query about the Bangladesh Election Commission, London meeting on the Rise of Political Islam in Bangladesh, frequent visits of US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher to Dhaka and the concern expressed by Nicholas Burns in a speech to the Asia Society: "The people of Bangladesh deserve free, fair, non-violent and credible elections. Toward that end, we urge the country's political parties to resolve their differences through dialogue," and the just concluded visit by Craig Jennes as special envoy of Kofi Annan and continuing observation of our election process by the representatives in Dhaka of established democracies?

Despite the Supreme Court's upholding of the death sentences passed on the Islamic militants, one has to take cognizance of Brussels-based International Crisis Group's report on Bangladesh, expressing major concern about links between legitimate Islamist parties and underground organizations providing cover for the latter. ICJ quoted a Dhaka based diplomat as saying "the sheer weight of Jamat-related circumstantial evidence can't be overlooked." The report states that Islamic militant outfits were quite openly cultivated in certain quarters as a counter-balance to leftist groups. The police and then government were happy to encourage the now-banned JMJB in this venture. Though ICG report was not the only one on Islamist revival in Bangladesh, the organization headed by Gareth Evans, former Australian goreign minister, takes great pains in preparing its reports and these are to be taken seriously.

Even if Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations is disputed by many and Barnard Lewis' millennial rivalry between Islam and Judeo-Christian is dismissed by the Islamic world as an attempt in advancing a personal agenda under the cloak of scholarship, there is no denying the facts that the Danish cartoon controversy involving Prophet Mohammed (pbuh), the race riots in France, and Pope Benedict XVI 's regrettable speech denigrating Islam at Regensberg University are reflective of deep division between the Islam and Christianity.

Such distance between the two cultures, more recently accentuated by former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw criticizing the wearing of veils in public by British Muslim women, cannot be ignored by the individual Muslim countries. Globalization that invariably means international connectivity can only be fruitful among countries that do not have contesting cultures. The current political situation and its evolution cannot, therefore, be totally dissociated from the surrounding environment and the world at large.

The world may not care very much which political party wins the elections in Bangladesh if the election process remains transparent and credible. But if the process is fraught with dissent by any of the major contestants resulting in political violence and anarchy, then the international community may not rest until a peaceful situation is established.

One must also consider President Bush's missionary zeal to spread democracy throughout the Islamic world and the US description of Bangladesh as a moderate Muslim country practicing democracy, albeit imperfectly. In this chess board game of power, if determination of destiny of 140 million people is to be considered as a game, then the king remains the people who should not be made fool of through a charade called elections. Sooner our "last hope" realizes this axiom the better it will be for the poverty-stricken people of Bangladesh.

Kazi Anwarul Masud is a former Secretary and Ambassador.