Jatiya Party Presidium Member Zia Uddin Ahmed Bablu has been appointed the Prime Minister’s Adviser.
Published : 18 Nov 2013, 06:57 PM
He will hold the position until the tenure of the all-party interim government is over.
A gazette notification issued on Monday said Bablu would enjoy the rank of a minister.
Signed by Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, the notice came barely two hours after six ministers and two state ministers were sworn into office as members of the interim government.
The Jatiya Party leaders sworn in as ministers were Rowshan Ershad, Anisul Islam Mahmud, and Ruhul Amin Hawlader. Mujibul Haque Chunnu and Salma Islam were sworn in as state ministers.
Senior Awami League leaders Tofail Ahmed and Mohammed Amir Hussain Amu, kept out of the regular cabinet for the last five years, have been included in the 'all-party' cabinet.
Bablu was expected to join the election-time Cabinet and was present at the oath-taking ceremony.
His appointment as the Adviser was a last minute decision.
According to the Cabinet Secretary, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has decided to have Bablu as her Adviser as he is not an MP.
Bablu was a Minister under Gen Ershad in the 1980s. He was an MP from Chittagong at that time.
He becomes the eighth adviser to the Prime Minister with ministerial rank. The other advisers are: HT Imam, Dr Mashiur Rahman, Syed Modasser Ali, Dr Alauddin Ahmed, Toufique-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Gowher Rizvi, and Tarique Ahmed Siddique.