The reason why some citizens want to see a quick election and an end to the current state of emergency is that, some people are concerned that the military was presumably behind the declaration of emergency and is presently calling the shots under the cover of the civilian administration run by the new CTG headed by Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed.

However, there is no doubt that the imposed emergency, be it by military or civil administration, has saved the nation from impending bloodshed of unimaginable proportions, thanks to God.

One also has to realize that the pre-emergency dire situation was created by our politicians, without the armed forces having to do anything with that. On the other hand, our patriotic armed forces, at times of many national crises came to the rescue of the nation this time.

It is the total failure of our bankrupt political parties that necessitated the declaration of emergency which may be viewed by some critics as a dent to our democracy. However, sometimes it is necessary to take a step backward in order to take a better and mightier step forward. With respect to our democracy, this has been the case now.

It is quite ironic to notice that while the two rival political groups had many do-or-die and never ending demands against each other on the eve of the new CTG taking the office, they have now joined hands and voices together to demand that the interim government announce the election date "as early as possible."

The anxiousness of our two major political camps for holding of elections soon can be easily understood - - they want political power again. These gangsters cannot survive without political power and plundering of national wealth, just like the termites cannot survive too long without digging and destroying through the wooden structures.

So, it is no wonder that the leaders of these two parties waged simultaneous verbal attacks against Nobel laureate Dr Yunus for his statements regarding the notorious corruption by our politicians.

Their denial of widespread corruption in our political arena simply meant that they were defending themselves and their cronies in corruption. The whole world, not just the people of Bangladesh, knows that the leaders and activists of both of our major political parties are equally culpable for the criminal actions and political corruptions. Is it believable that they had not heard and seen everyone talking and writing volumes about their corruptions, grafts and political misdeeds, before Dr Yunus publicly spoke about it?

Both rival parties are also saying in unison that "holding the election early is in the interest of democracy." Their cry for democracy is nothing more than the crocodile tears, because it is they who have always made the democracy dead or disabled the day after they win the elections.

Both major political camps ruled the country for a total of fifteen years since 1991, but during their reign did they ever show any accountability to their electors as required by the very basic principle of democracy, or did they even fulfill any of their important election pledges made to the people?

So, what caused them to become the lovers of democracy overnight and thus raise these slogans for democracy? The answer is obvious again -- they just want to ascend to power in a hurry using democracy as a vehicle, before their cheap popularity vanishes just like the nightly fog disappears at the morning sunshine.

Nothing at this moment scares our corrupt politicians more than the ray of hope and relief that our people have begun to find under the rule of the new CTG, and this is the reason for their rush to elections.

During the period of national crisis before the declaration of emergency, most of the elites in our society as well as the foreigners were crying for creating a "level playing field" for holding a "free and fair election." The list of their primary demands included corrected voter rolls, reconstitution of the EC, appointment of neutral field level polling officers, adoption of voter identity cards, and arrangement of transparent ballot boxes.

While the above list of work is important for an election, simply doing these routine preparations would not have created a level playing field and definitely would not have helped the cause of democracy and good politics a bit, unless and until the players themselves -- our politicians -- were corrected or ejected out the of political field.

The corrupt and worthless people in our politics are the most obnoxious pests in the society, and they must be dealt with first before any meaningful elections are held.

Otherwise, simply transferring power from one set of criminals to another set of desperate thugs does not at all serve the purpose of democracy or the well-being of the nation.

Another evil omen that is looming on the horizon is the dynastical nature of our politics, especially originating from the two leading ladies in our political circle. Unless this problem is addressed right now, our system of government will be nothing but a monarchy legitimized by elections and the leadership alternating between two families only.

Therefore, cleansing the political parties of corruption, criminals, black money and dynastical rule is the most important prerequisite for elections, and this task will undoubtedly take a much longer time than doing the other laundry list of election preparations such as correction of voter rolls, etc.

But this is the most important job for the CTG, without which holding elections in the current state of filthy political environment will simply transfer power back to the corrupt people again and create a mockery of democracy in a political dynasty.

It may take a long time, maybe one year or even longer, for the CTG to cleanse the political mess and fix the moral depravity created by our two major parties.

The nation is counting on the present administration headed by Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed for creating a clean playing field -- not just a level playing field -- for a fair game so that the good and honest people can come out victorious to lead the nation.

It is better for us to have a clean and delayed election participated in by the honest, deserving and capable candidates than a quick and dirty one engineered by the corrupt political gangsters. So, the CTG and the citizens have to maintain patience and proceed wisely and resolutely, because this time we cannot afford to fail.

Dr Matiur Rahman is Professor, Austin Community College, Texas, US.