She is our shadow PM

IS Raushan Ershad ready to assume the office of the prime minister? You may say this question is in fun, because you know how she has been made the leader of the opposition. The high office she is holding in the 10th Parliament is of immense important in parliamentary democracy. It is a slight to our democracy if we knowingly undermine the dignity of this high office.
In UK, the birthplace of Westminster style of democracy, the opposition in the House of Commons is called “official opposition.” British expert Eriskin May, more than 170 years ago, said of the opposition: “It is the largest minority party which is prepared, in the event of resignation of the government, to assume office.”
About the significance of the office of the leader of the opposition, Indian experts M.N. Kaul and S.L. Shakdhar say: “He is a shadow Prime Minister and he has to be prepared to take up the responsibility of forming a government if his party secures a majority at an election or if the government resigns or is defeated.”
May, Kaul and Shakdhar have spoken of an ideal situation in parliamentary democracy. They could not have envisaged the abnormal situation which we are now facing in identifying the opposition and its leader in parliament. By making Raushan the leader of the opposition, the ruling AL has set a dubious distinction in the history of parliamentary democracy. How? The AL-led government held the January 5 election keeping its archrival BNP-led alliance away from the ballots. It needed some MPs who would take seats in the opposition bench. So, AL ensured win of 33 candidates of Jatiya Party led by Ershad in the polls.
Ershad's refusal to quit the electoral race did not work as Raushan emerged as the leader of the opposition. She defied Ershad's command and stayed in the electoral race. Some Jatiya Party leaders made her their leader. Ershad lost control over his party in this game when Raushan appeared as his opponent. He was kept confined at a hospital during the run-up to the election.
Jatiya Party leaders who were elected as MPs with the support of the ruling AL were not happy with MP status. They demanded a share of power. To make them happy, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inducted three JP MPs in her cabinet formed on January 12. This set an unprecedented record in contemporary parliamentary democracy.
Raushan, a senior presidium member of Jatiya Party, may feel proud of this unprecedented record she has set. Under her leadership, the party has achieved much success -- ensuring share of power and status of the main opposition in parliament. Ershad, who has been leading the party for more than three decades, could not achieve such successes in the country's democratic period. So, she may even claim to be at the helm of the Jatiya Party!  
Whatever the reality is, Raushan occupies the third position in Parliament, after the Speaker and the Leader of the House. She will be enjoying the status and all benefits of a cabinet minister. None of her predecessors, excepting the opposition leader in the 4th Parliament, got the dignified status so easily. In the 4th Parliament, formed through a farcical election held in 1988 amid a boycott by AL, BNP and other parties, A.S.M. Abdur Rab was the leader of the opposition. But that opposition party was handmaiden of the then regime led by Ershad. So Rab was labelled as the “domestic opposition leader” by the agitating opposition parties. Hasina and Khaleda Zia, in turn, had held the office of the leader of opposition since restoration of democracy in 1990. Before them, AL veteran leader Asaduzzaman Khan was the opposition leader in the 2nd Parliament formed in 1979. None was recognised as the opposition leader in the 5th and 6th Parliaments formed in 1973 and 1996, respectively.
Previous records show that individuals having political career and enjoying people's support had got recognition as the ones to lead the opposition bench. But Raushan is different from them. She does not have such political career. She was the first lady because she was the wife of then president Ershad. In her brief biography published by the parliament secretariat in 2012, she claimed that she made contributions to many state and development works as first lady.
After the fall of the Ershad regime in 1990, Raushan lost the status of first lady. Her biography did not say anything about her activities in the six years before she was elected MP in the 7th Parliament with JP ticket. She was elected MP in 1996 and 2001 elections. She, however, failed to win in the 2008 parliamentary polls. Later, she was elected as MP in a by-election from a seat vacated by Ershad, who won two seats in the polls. Her role as MP was not worth mentioning. But she became lucky when Ershad announced that his party would join Hasina's election time cabinet and join the 10th Parliamentary election. Hasina inducted some JP MPs, including Raushan, in her election-time cabinet in the middle of November last year. Raushan got the portfolio of the health ministry. She must have fallen in love with the power. Therefore, she was unwilling to resign as minister following Ershad's announcement to quit the electoral race and the election-time cabinet.
Raushan even negotiated with Hasina after Ershad's announcement to persuade the prime minister to give some 'advantages' to Ershad so that he would change his decision. She got support of some other ambitious JP leaders who had also fallen in love with power after being inducted in Hasina's election-time cabinet. So, Raushan and her MPs will play the role of shadow cabinet in the parliament. Will the opposition bench under her leadership hold the cabinet accountable for its actions? Or will the opposition bench remain accountable to the government for its actions, instead?
Many more curious things may unfold in the coming days.    

The writer is Senior Reporter, The Daily Star.