An “all-party” cabinet designed to steer the nation through the next general elections, slated for mid-January, will be sworn in on Monday afternoon, the Cabinet Secretary has announced.
Published : 17 Nov 2013, 07:03 PM
The decision to install “a smaller cabinet” came at a meeting between the President and the Prime Minister on Sunday evening, he said.
“The Honourable President has endorsed and welcomed the plans and ideas of the Honourable Prime Minister about a smaller cabinet,” Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said, briefing newsmen at the Presidential palace immediately after the prime ministerial call-on.
Cabinet Secretary Bhuiyan did not give any further details.
It remained unclear until Sunday night whether Sheikh Hasina will step down as demanded by BNP. One source indicated she might opt for making way for a senior party colleague to take charge provided the BNP agreed to join the proposed ‘all-party’ formation.
Hasina’s strongest indication so far has been her statement last week that she would “prefer peace to being prime minister”.
The prospect of the main opposition MPs becoming ministers in the “all-party” government looked less than bleak Sunday with the party spokespersons not stressing the non-party formula. “Free and fair vote is the key,” said Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, a Vice Chairman, after US official Nisha Biswal’s meeting with Khaleda Zia, “with participation of all parties.”
Tarique Rahman’s acquittal in a corruption case earlier in the day reinforced belief that a settlement was more likely than ever before. But, later around 11:25pm, acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir dampened the mood with a categorical statement: “There’s no chance of BNP MPs being in that Mohajote (grand alliance) cabinet. It’s another farce.”
Amid rumours of individuals being asked to join, bdnews24.com Chief Political Correspondent, at the Chairperson’s office in Gulshan late Sunday night, said no one confirmed receipt of any “phone call” from the Cabinet Division.
At least four parties, out of eight including Jamaat-e-Islami having members in the 345-strong Parliament, will have representation in the new cabinet, official sources say.
Meanwhile amid fierce speculations about the politicians who will take oath at the Monday 3pm ceremony at the Bangabhaban, bdnews24.com knows of a few that have been approached and are almost sure to be in the new, first-of-its-kind cabinet in Bangladesh.
Senior Awami League leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, senior Jatiya Party leader former First Lady Rowshan Ershad, Jatiya Party Secretary General Ruhul Amin Howlader, the party’s Presidium member and former Foreign Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Jatiya Party MP and former deputy minister Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Workers Party chief Rashed Khan Menon are among the names confirmed by credible sources.
Amu and Tofail sit on the Advisory Council of the ruling Awami League. Menon and Tofail had earlier rejected cabinet berths.
Some of the existing ministers including Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s Hasanul Huq Inu will continue, a source close to the Prime Minister told bdnews24.com.
The announcement came hours after Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad met Hifazat-e Islam amir Shah Ahmad Shafi in Chittagong when the former military dictator promised to back the latter’s 13-point charter of demands that included banning the national policy seeking women empowerment.
Much, however, depends on “unpredictable” Ershad, as one source put it, who will eventually decide whether to allow his party MPs to be part of the polls-time cabinet. On Saturday, he announced that his party was leaving the AL-led alliance and his brother Ghulam Muhammad Quader ceasing to be a minister. The former President will keep everyone guessing until he speaks at a press conference Monday morning.
Kazi Zafar Ahmed, a Jatiya Party Presidium Member and a former Prime Minister under Gen Ershad, said he had no clue about the new cabinet. “I know nothing about when and how it all happened,” he said Sunday night of the alleged arrangement with the ruling party, speaking to bdnews24.com from his hospital bed in Dhaka.
“I have heard of seven names,” said Kazi Feroz Rashid, another Jatiya Party Presidium Member and former minister.
(With additional reporting by Staff Correspondent Shahidul Islam and Senior Correspondent Shamim Ahmed)