Seven new state ministers take oath as Hasina expands cabinet

They take an oath of secrecy after being sworn-in by President Mohammad Shahabuddin

Seven new state ministers have taken the oath of office as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expanded her cabinet nearly one and a half months after forming a government for the fourth straight term.

They took an oath of office after being sworn-in by President Mohammad Shahabuddin at the Bangabhaban on Friday evening in the presence of Hasina and senior members of the council of ministers.

The new state ministers are Shamsun Naher Chapa, Waseqa Ayesha Khan, Rokeya Sultana, Naheed Ezaher Khan, Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, Md Shahiduzzaman Sarker and Md Abdul Wadud.

Their portfolios will be revealed later, said Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain.

It is a cabinet debut for Chattogram-14 MP and freedom fighter Nazrul who has been elected to parliament for three consecutive terms.

After her election to an MP from a reserved women's seat, Awami League's Education and Human Resources Secretary Chapa has also been inducted into the cabinet for the first time.

They have been joined by another fresh face in Waseqa, who is serving her third straight term as a reserved seat MP. She is the daughter of late Ataur Rahman Khan Kaiser, a leading organiser of the Liberation War and a prominent leader of the Awami League.

Rokeya, serving as the ruling party's health and population affairs secretary, has become a part of the cabinet following her election to a reserved women's seat.

Fresh off winning the Naogaon-2 election, Shahiduzzaman has been pressed into the cabinet. The voting in the constituency did not take place during the general election on Jan 7 after the death of an independent candidate led to its postponement. Shahiduzzaman swept to victory in the rescheduled election on Feb 12.

Naheed, re-elected as an MP from a reserved seat, is among the newly appointed state ministers. She is daughter of Liberation War hero Col Khandkar Nazmul Huda, Bir Bikram.

Wadud, a lawmaker from Rajshahi-5, rounds off the list of new appointments. The sole representative from Rajshahi in Hasina's cabinet had previously served as a member of the parliamentary standing committee on the food ministry.

With the new ones, the cabinet now consists of 25 full ministers and 18 state ministers, with no positions for deputy ministers.