Where the Buck Stops

It’s not just the economic and law and order crises.

Governance of course remains a huge first-order challenge for the BNP and unless they deliver on that front everything else is moot.

But an equally thorny problem they are facing is that they continue to lose ground when it comes to communication: they are losing the meme wars, and in this day and age, perception of performance is almost as important as performance itself.

Even if they do manage to pull the economy out of its tailspin and get a handle on crime (without resorting to crossfire, one hopes) -- and these are big ifs by the way -- they are running out of time when it comes to how they are perceived by the public.

Specifically, the positioning of Tarique Rahman is starting to become the object of amusement that could be very damaging to him if he does not address the concern in a meaningful way.

Polls show that he remains popular with the general public, more popular than his government and ministers.

He continues to make all the right noises and has successfully cultivated an image of a decent, upstanding, liberal leader.

But it is this very popularity that has been targeted by his political opponents, and the growing disconnect between his carefully curated image and the performance of his partymen has become grist for a critique of him that is beginning to stick.

The “PM is a good man who is not responsible for the misdeeds of his partymen and missteps of his government” comms strategy rolled out by the BNP high command runs the risk of making him look out of touch and ineffectual.

If he is not responsible, then who is? If he is not responsible, then what good is he?

It is not good enough to point the finger at underperforming underlings: the buck stops at the PM’s desk and at some point he needs to take responsibility for everything that is done in his name and by those working for him.

Discontent with the government has already started to take hold and the only thing worse for the PM than to have that discontent laid at his door is if the public conclude that nothing is his fault because nothing is in his hands.

On the subject of which it may be time for the PM to reappraise the wisdom of living in Gulshan.

Now we know that the old PM’s residence is unavailable but there are government residences such as the one that housed the Chief Adviser that might be more suitable to the PM than a private house in a residential neighbourhood.

The problem with his current residence is that his security has created massive traffic gridlock and completely upended life in the entire quadrant.

It’s the little things that count.

It’s no good using your own personal vehicle and asking the IGP not to disrupt traffic when you move, while at the same time limiting movement on all the roads in the vicinity of the PM’s residence and thus snarling up traffic from morning till night.

That’s what people remember.

It is worth recalling that in the February election the PM was elected in Dhaka-17 by a surprisingly slim margin of just a few thousand votes over his unfancied Jamaat-e-islami rival. That too in a constituency where the Jamaat has never done well.

If Tarique wishes to retain his slim majority in his adoptive constituency, he may wish to reconsider the inconvenience he is causing to the voters there as a result of his choice of residence.

Doubtless he is unaware of the indignities that his neighbours have to suffer as a result of the security measures taken to accommodate his residence.

But, as with all the other measures that are taken in his name, either implicitly or explicitly, that is the point: while he himself may be utterly guiltless it is he who will pay the political price.

Whether it is extortion committed by his partymen, or high-handed action taken by his law enforcement officers, or policy blunders committed by his cabinet, or even something as seemingly minor as the traffic nightmare that surrounds his residence, the buck stops with the PM.

He is the one who will need to answer for it, and trying to stay above the fray will not work..

Zafar Sobhan is the Editor of the weekly Counterpoint.