Speak with One Voice

The Chamber leaders' initiative for a dialogue between the opposition and the government to end their political stand-off by way of improving the country's business environment has drawn a blank. We wish it had not; but given the way it was shaping up, the inevitable seems to have happened.

Opposition Leader Begum Khaleda Zia rejected the business community's entreaties for talks with the Prime Minister on the ground that those came too late in the day. She may have implied any of the following two things: (a) the initiative came about against the backdrop of the government's desperation in drawing the opposition into talks so that it is a bit suspect there; and (b) it is too late for her party's intensified agitational programme to be rolled back into a conciliatory mould now. She has even waxed caustic to suggest that all that she now needs a dialogue for is to thrash out the details of electoral reforms and the schedules for the next general election with the caretaker government she wants immediately installed following the 'ouster' of the incumbent government.

Our instant reaction to this would be that political dialogues are held between adversaries and that these can always take place so long as the bone of contention between them remains unresolved. It is never too late to sit for talks in national interest; so, the opposition leader would have done well to adopt a 'better late than never' approach. 'Never' here could turn out to be a point of no return.

That said, when the federating body of the chambers of commerce and industries, the FBCCI, announced the move some important component units did not readily express their solidarity with it. So, it started out on a wrong creditability footing. Its second drop in credibility in the eye of the opposition leader occurred when the Prime Minister had to intervene and bail out the FBCCI initiative from a premature abortion.

The move should have been well-conceived from the very start to be in with any chance whatsoever. It is the disunity among the businessmen that has sealed the fate of an otherwise highly desirable initiative. So, we say to the business leaders, please iron out your differences first, speak with one voice, and when it comes to national interest do it unambiguously without the slightest hint of politicisation and partisanism. If you did all these, we shall stand wholeheartedly by you, pull our full weight behind any righteous cause you may have.