In the past, as far as our memory goes, the EC used to work in isolation having no glamour and glitz to attract media attention. We saw some flurry of activities come election time and for the next three to four years it used to go into hibernation. But now, thanks to the two-year long comedy serial drama scripted by Aziz and Company, everyone, even a juvenile delinquent out on the street, seems to know a great deal more about the EC now than they knew before.

To be candid, the nation was a silent witness for years together to the process of dark forces taking hold of this office, which is entrusted with the solemn responsibility of determining the fate of democracy in this country. If it functions properly democracy survives. If it falters democracy takes a plunge. Unfortunately, we had actually seen how it faltered and stumbled. But why did it falter? The answer is given below.

The very fact that the Election Commission (EC) secretariat was stapled strong with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for so long is evident enough that the entire electoral system has been rendered corrupt by the last political government.

While previously the EC secretariat was attached with the President's Office, it was brought under the PMO through an undemocratic move some years back. Since then the nation has seen blatant politicisation of the organisation with party lackeys adorning important posts who unabashedly facilitated the process of engineering the general election which was scheduled to be held on 22 January.

Hence, one is apt to ask the question, how could a political power control the decisions and works of an organization that was ethically bound to work independently maintaining neutrality and sanctity so that it could perform the given responsibilities to the best of its ability? So, can there be any second opinion regarding freeing the Election Commission (EC) Secretariat from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO)? The greater majority of the people would say no with a capital N.

The cynic among us may ask: Will freeing the EC from the PMO ensure a foolproof and ideal election? Maybe yes. Maybe not. It is common knowledge that elections in this country have never been hundred percent foolproof. There were uncontrollable forces that often came to play a detrimental role to thwart the attempts to make it so. And yet, through trial and error, we have been able to establish an electoral system that could present some near-perfect elections in the past.

There is no denying that there is plenty of room for improvement and only an independent EC manned by honest, impartial and competent people would be able to do the job efficiently.

Therefore, it is of fundamental importance for the survival of democracy in this country that we keep the EC in good health and humour, allowing it to be independent, powerful and impartial in taking decisions and executing them without fear or favour. And, first and foremost, it must be freed from the PMO once and for all.

Now, what about the reforms the EC is supposed to undertake to ensure a free and credible election that would bring honest and competent people into the government to ensure good governance and rule of law? The people in general are in favour of a credible election and they want to see honest and competent people in parliament who would devote their time and energy in creating and implementing pro-people laws, and not remain busy to make money through the backdoor abusing their position and power.

Let's hear what a district level participant at a cross section dialogue said about electoral reform and clean candidates. The views are presented below almost verbatim without much editing to retain the flavour of the original thought.

"Before going to cast our votes we will have to know about the candidates. You all know that there was a High Court order in this regard in May last year; it was on the eight-point declaration. But now, after receiving the order from the High Court the Election Commission says that it is not mandatory. It is a document from High Court and it could be used to find honest people but instead of doing that EC is playing a negative role. They are saying that it is not mandatory. But had it been followed properly, it would have proved to be beneficial for the country. We want every candidate to give a declaration of his/her asset, liabilities, and source of asset, educational background and whether there is any criminal case against them. We shall cast our vote after considering all the above."

Can you debate that? The prevailing common mood in all the sections of society is for reform before holding the elections. The present government must not falter in taking such public mood into cognizance and act accordingly.

Shahnoor Wahid is Senior Assistant Editor of The Daily Star.