She is Unique

Raushan Ershad

Any ordinary Bangladeshi will be puzzled if h/she is suddenly asked who the leader of the opposition in the parliament is. Some of them even answer the name Khaleda Zia. But the truth is Raushan Ershad, not Khaleda, is the present leader of the opposition. Raushan performs very little political activities. It is difficult to find her political presence when the parliament is not in session. When the House is in session, she attends some of the sittings, but speaks occasionally.

Raushan does not attend her office in the parliament building when the House is not in session. On October 16, a visiting Singapore delegation led by the country's State Minister for Foreign Affairs had to go to Raushan's residence to meet her.

The Staff of her office keep regular communication with her and carry out some routine work if there is any. On her advice, her office staff sends press releases to the media. This month, her office sent the opposition leader's messages twice on November 3 and 6 on the occasion of Ashura and prior to beginning of the Junior School Certificate Examination respectively. In her November 3 message, Raushan focused on the significance of holy Ashura and urged all to refrain from doing evil deeds and work for the establishment of peace in the society. And in her November 6 message, she urged all to refrain from enforcing any political programme which may hamper the Junior School Certificate Examinations.

In the parliamentary form of the government, Raushan is supposed to play a crucial role. She is supposed to lead the shadow cabinet to oversee the activities of the government. She is considered as the prime minister in waiting. She is enjoying the status and benefits of a minister. Public money is being spent to provide her with the benefits. What is she giving in return?

The way Raushan is playing the role of the opposition leader and is leading the opposition has made the government happy. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her budget speech lauded Raushan and the main opposition in parliament. Khaleda Zia and her party BNP's boycott of the January 5 parliamentary election has offered Raushan the golden opportunity to emerge as the leader of the opposition.

Raushan had earlier announced that she and the main opposition under her leadership would play a different role as the main opposition in parliament. Their performance in and outside of the House have not caused any trouble for the government and the ruling Awami League. They have proved themselves very loyal to the government. It is almost certain that they will not do anything which may contribute to putting additional pressure on the government to call for an early parliamentary election. Calling for early general election will end the tenure of Raushan as the opposition leader. So, like Sheikh Hasina, Opposition Leader Raushan too opposes Khaleda Zia-led BNP's demand for snap polls.

The premier keeps launching verbal attacks on Khaleda and her BNP in her speeches. Khaleda has also been doing the same. The BNP chief has been blasting the government in almost all her speeches, threatening to wage tougher agitation to oust Hasina form the government. The way Hasina and Khaleda still remain engaged in the war of words has given the impression that Khaleda is the real opposition leader. If Hasina is ousted from the power or resigns as the premier, Raushan will automatically be removed from the office of the leader of the opposition. So, Raushan's fate as the opposition leader still depends on the existence of the Hasina-led government. Thus the country's politics has put the three leaders--Hasina, Khaleda and Raushan--in unique a position. But Raushan is certainly more unique than others.

The writer is Senior Reporter, The Daily Star.