Southern District U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Friday urged New Yorkers to demand higher standards for politicians, asking them to imagine how they would build a system in which corruption could not flourish.

Delivering the keynote address at a forum on “Fighting Corruption in America and Abroad,” sponsored by the Fordham Law School Law Review, Bharara said people should ask themselves how they would reform campaign finance, curb conflicts of interest, limit the outside income of their elected representatives and foster transparency.

Bharara's remarks came in the wake of his office's highest-profile public corruption prosecution. Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was indicted two weeks ago on charges that he received $4 million in kickbacks from law firms for doing political favors since 2002. The once-powerful Democrat has said he will be vindicated.