The son also rises
THIS is what we saw in a photograph. The mother was addressing the US investors in New York last month, and the son was sitting next to her. She was the prime minister of Bangladesh, but who was he other than being her own son? We have reports he went there as an advisor to the prime minister. This newspaper published a report on September 26, which described him as "prime minister's son living in America." If Dr. Pangloss in Voltaire's Candide were amongst us, he would have reiterated that we are living in the best of all possible worlds.
The partisan hawks should know that it doesn't get my goat. If we can trust the mother, we can also trust the son. But I am curious to know in what capacity did the son not only go to that seminar, but also sat next to the prime minister. Did he go in his own right as an investment expert? Was he there in his official capacity as an advisor to the prime minister? Was it because his powerful mother so wished that her son should share her limelight?
I for one am happy that our prime minister has a qualified son. He lives in the US, speaks good English, dresses well, looks dapper and has done a stint at Harvard. Then why is all that hush-hush about what was he doing at the seminar? Why should we see his picture next to his mother and scratch our heads, not so sure if he should have gone there?
Let us forget this country has many more sons who live in America. Let us forget we have many more sons living in this country who possibly could have done a better job at that seminar. But the prime minister is the prime minister. Her wish is our command. Dr. Pangloss repeated. We are living in the best of all possible worlds. Her son has an edge over the rest of us.
But the United States is a different world, and I am sure the businessmen, who attended that seminar, asked about an attractive young man sitting next to the prime minister. And, I can vouch they chuckled and whispered. I can vouch they talked amongst themselves what to expect if they wished to invest under yet another mother-and-son saga.
It's customary in the business world to exchange visiting cards. What did the prime minister's son write on his business card? How did he introduce himself to the US investors? What credentials did he show, which should have convinced the audience that they had come to hear it straight from the horse's mouth?
If the purpose of the seminar was to encourage foreign investors to invest in Bangladesh, it must have created more questions than were answered. The reason why many investors left Bangladesh and new ones never showed interest is lack of confidence. The seminar may have reinforced their doubts that our government is still swirling in the vortex of family influence.
Still, if the prime minister has so much confidence in her son, she should appoint him to a befitting position. Then, he can become a part of her government and work with her on matters of national interest. Then, it won't rankle public sentiments when he is sighted in state functions. Although I think the best choice is to keep him entirely out of national affairs.
If that isn't an option, it's better to tell us what is his role in the government. Why should the government hesitate if that's what it takes the prime minister to effectively run the country? Instead, it should be more embarrassing when her decision is questioned, when people want to know what business her son had being where he shouldn't have been.
Ideally, every mother should see the best goes to her son. Likewise, a prime minister should see the best job goes to the most deserving person. This government occasionally runs into problems with making that decision.
The cabinet has been reshuffled. Postings and promotions have been bungled. Two judicial officers were sacked and reinstated. A foreign citizen has been appointed advisor to the prime minister. Nobody knows his plans to split his time between his adopted country and land of birth.
The prime minister can't be blamed for everything. But her son is her responsibility.
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