THE Supreme Court's recent bombshell which has resurrected Benazir Bhutto's political career has reopened the flagging debate on corruption in high places.

Despite Pakistan's ex-prime minister's protestations of her innocence being established through this judgement, the fact is that a retrial's result may not be very different from the original High Court verdict of guilty. Presumably, she will then appeal again to the Supreme Court, and by then, the rapidly shifting political scenario may give her some relief. But despite the legal technicalities and niceties that will be invoked for years to come, there are few Pakistanis who believe that she and her spouse are innocent of misusing their authority to make money. Ditto for Nawaz Sharif and his unsavoury clan.

This having been established beyond any reasonable doubt, where do we go from here? In the name of a murky and often self-serving accountability, do we throw the baby out with the bath water? This government, by its highly selective use of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), has devalued the entire process. By exiling Nawaz Sharif and his family to Saudi Arabia, and not touching those members of his party who are willing to split the Muslim League to form a King's Party to give a thin veneer of credibility to the military rulers, General Musharraf has ensured that the PPP can continue claiming that its leader is being victimized.

People like the Chaudhris of Gujrat are up to their necks in alleged scams of all kinds ranging from skimming off the savings of the victims of the notorious finance companies to defaulting on billions of bank loans. But for some strange reason, they continue to remain beyond NAB's jurisdiction.

Professing shock and horror at our leaders' fiscal shenanigans as we do, we can draw some comfort from what other politicians are doing around the world. Bill Clinton, apart from his sordid sexual escapades in the White House, thought nothing of walking off with the gifts the First Couple had received during their tenure. In addition, in the last few hours of his presidency, Clinton pardoned several convicted felons accused of gross financial misdemeanours. In Pakistan, such blatant misuse of power would have provoked great anguish among the chattering classes and rampant ambition at GHQ. In America the scandal has blown over in a matter of days.

Currently, the ex-Thai prime minister is being tried for corruption, and ex-President Estrada of the Philippines faces several charges of financial scams and is currently on bail. Many Japanese politicians, including prime ministers, have been turfed out on corruption charges. In Europe, both ex-Chancellor Kohl of Germany and French President Chirac have faced accusations of fiscal wrongdoing. In Britain, powerful politicians have seen their careers destroyed after they were caught with their hands in the till. In India, the ruling coalition is still reeling from the filmed revelations made by tehelka.com.

In short, we in Pakistan do not have a monopoly on corruption and crooked politicians. Although editors and columnists (including this one) moralize endlessly about this evil, the fact is that this is a global phenomenon. All over the world, leaders misuse their powers to make money for themselves and their families. Human nature being what it is, greed often gets the better of ethics as well as sound judgement.

In developed democracies, a free press, an informed citizenry and an independent and efficient judiciary frequently unmask and punish the corrupt. In the Third World where democratic institutions are weak, it can take a street movement to get rid of a crooked leader, just as Marcos and Estrada were removed in the Philippines, and General Suharto in Indonesia.

In Pakistan, we have not only got rid of our corrupt leaders; we have also rejected democracy as the system that allows them to achieve power. However, in our misguided zeal to cleanse the country, we forget that ultimately there is no substitute for democracy. Military dictatorships cause more problems than they solve, as we know to our cost. Also, the sins of our past military dictators were covered up by the press censorship that was then in force. Even now, we have no idea how the defence budget is spent. As the recent arrest of a Pakistani ex-admiral in the US on corruption charges indicates, those in uniform are not entirely blameless in fiscal matters.

As we have seen, most other countries that have removed crooked politicians do not also throw out the democratic system. Had this been so, virtually the entire world would have been under the jackboot today. The reality is that democracy has gained considerable ground over the last decade, and with all its many imperfections, it is now the preferred system of government in much of the world. True, in many developing countries it exists only in form, and in the Arab world it is virtually non existent. However, although millions pay only lip service to the concept, it is gradually becoming the only acceptable form of government.

In Pakistan, we are swimming against the tide. So fed up are people with the system that gives us Nawaz Sharif or Benazir Bhutto time after time that they have become disenchanted and depoliticized. This apathy has less to do with any love they may feel for the generals than with their anger and contempt for discredited politicians. In this context, it would be a big mistake to restore the assemblies simply to confer a spurious legitimacy on the military government, and anoint General Pervez Musharraf as the president. Most of those waiting eagerly to return to these assemblies and scrabble around for crumbs from the generals' high table are just as tainted as their past or present leaders currently in jail or in exile.

For the military to foist this crew on us just to further its own political agenda would be doing themselves and the democratic system a grave disservice. Several readers have attacked me via e-mail for having supported the coup in its early days; living at a distance, they can afford to take a politically correct view of the situation. Nevertheless, it has not been easy to welcome a military government.

But now that they are installed in power, there is some good they can do, and they can start by laying down a clear blueprint for their return to the barracks, an election schedule, and finally disqualify the obviously crooked politicians. Here they must not take sides: anybody with serious charges of corruption or bank default against them must not be allowed to contest the next election. After all, if Ayub Khan could ban politicians through his EBDO, why can't this military set-up?

If there is to be surgery, let it be swift and radical. The military surgeons must not leave tools inside the wound to fester and infect us all over again.