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Hasina drops 15 ministers, 13 state ministers of old cabinet from new one
Published : 11 Jan 2024, 05:03 AM
In what is being seen as a fresh start for her new government after a massive election victory, Sheikh Hasina has dropped 30 members of her outgoing cabinet from the new one.
They include 15 full ministers, 13 state ministers, and two deputy ministers. Three of these state ministers were already culled from the list of the Awami League’s nominees to run in the general election, and three others lost their reelection bids.
Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain unveiled the new 37-strong cabinet on Wednesday after President Mohammed Shahabuddin asked her to continue in the prime ministerial role by forming a new government following the ruling party’s landslide in the Jan 7 vote.
For a fresh start, Hasina has picked 25 ministers and 11 state ministers.
Unlike the previous cabinet after the 11th parliamentary election with three deputy ministers, no deputy ministers have been included this time.
They will be sworn in at a Bangabhaban ceremony on Thursday.
FRESH FACES
Abdus Shahid, a seven-time MP from the Moulvibazar-4 seat and former chief whip, is one of the many newcomers who has been given a berth in the new cabinet.
The head of government has also appointed RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury, a freedom fighter and a three-time member of parliament from Brahmanbaria Sadar. Obaidul once was Hasina's private secretary.
The prime minister has made Awami League presidium member Abdur Rahman a full minister in her 2024 cabinet. Rahman, a former leader of the Awami League’s student front Bangladesh Chhatra League, is an MP from Faridpur-1.
The candidacy of retired major general Abdus Salam was scrapped during the 12th parliamentary elections due to debt irregularities. However, he won back the right to run the race after challenging the Election Commission's decision at the High Court. Hasina has appointed the MP as a minister.
Rajbari District Awami League President Zillul Hakim has also been brought into the cabinet with a full ministerial position. The freedom fighter is a five-time MP from Rajbari-2.
New minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury, a businessman and a sports organiser, served as deputy minister of shipping in the Awami League government in 1996. He was later made the deputy minister of LGRD.
Saber was the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board from 1996-2001. He also performed his duties as the political secretary to Hasina back in 2001.
Hasina has drafted Jahangir Kabir Nanak back into the cabinet as a minister 10 years after his tenure as the state minister for local government ended in 2013.
Nanak, a former general secretary of the BCL and former chairman of Jubo League, is currently a member of the Awami League’s presidium.
Nazmul Hassan, the president of BCB, has been given a berth in the cabinet. The late President Zillur Rahman's son, Nazmul is the managing director of Beximco Pharmaceuticals.
A "very surprised" Professor Samanta Lal Sen, known for his work at the national burns institute, has been included in Hasina's new cabinet as a technocrat state minister.
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, who was the foreign minister for five years from 2014, has returned to the cabinet. During the Liberation War, the foreign ministry official created quite a stir by expressing his loyalty to the government of Bangladesh.
Hasina also reinstated retired Colonel M Faruk Khan, who served as Bangladesh's commerce and civil aviation minister during the 2009-2014 government.
The member of the presidium was chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs in the outgoing parliament.
Narayan Chandra Chanda, who was elected from Khulna-5 for the fourth time in a row, is also returning to the cabinet. Narayan served as state minister and minister of fisheries and livestock from 2014 to 2018.
He started his career as a head teacher and was elected union council chairman six times. He went to parliament for the first time in a 1996 by-election. In the 10th parliament, he became state minister for fisheries and livestock before being promoted to minister after the death of cabinet member Sayedur Haque.
The prime minister elevated young leader Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury Nowfel to a full minister.
The son of late Awami League leader Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Nowfel has served as deputy minister of education for the last five years. He was elected MP from Chattogram-9 constituency for the second time in the 12th general election.
NEW STATE MINISTERS
Simeen Hussain Rimi, the daughter of Bangladesh’s first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad, has found a place in Hasina's 2024 cabinet as a state minister. Rimi is the elder sister of former state minister for home affairs Tanjim Ahmed aka Sohel Taj.
Elected to parliament in the 10th and 11th general elections, she has been serving as the head of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Cultural Affairs.
A new state minister, Mohammad Ali Arafat, was elected MP for the first time from Dhaka-17 constituency in the 2023 by-election. He became a member of the Central Executive Committee of Awami League in December 2022.
Arafat is the founder and chairman of Suchinta Foundation. He is also a syndicate member and principal advisor to the Canadian University of Bangladesh Board of Trustees.
An Awami League leader of Patuakhali, Mohibbur Rahman Muhib is one of the new state ministers. Muhib served as the principal of Alhaj Jalal Uddin Degree College in the district. He is the vice president of the district Awami League unit. He has been elected MP of the Patuakhali-4 constituency for the second time.
Kujendra Lal Tripura, named a state minister, is a three-time MP from Khagrachhari. He served as chairman of Khagrachari Hill District Council from 2010 to 2013. In 2018, he was made chairman of the Task Force on Resettlement of Repatriated Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.
Rumana Ali, who served as the state minister for LGRD from 1999 to 2001, has been reinstated into the cabinet this year. She is the daughter of Awami League leader Rahmat Ali - a seven-time MP from Gazipur's Sreepur and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LGRD. Rumana won a seat in parliament for the first time on Jan 7 as an Awami League candidate.
Sylhet District Awami League President Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury broken into Hasina's team as a state minister. Shafiqur, a member of the ninth Parliament, is returning to the House after 10 years.
The prime minister has made Ahsanul Islam Titu a state minister. Titu is an MP from the Tangail-6 constituency and son of late MP Maqbul Hossain of Dhaka-9.
Titu became a Dhaka Stock Exchange member in 1993. In 2013, he served as president of the country's main bourse. He was also elected to parliament in 2018.
DROPPED MINISTERS
Prominent among those not given a cabinet berth are Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Planning Minister MA Mannan, and Textile and Jute Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi.
Also frozen out are Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed, Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin, Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Singh, Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan and Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad.
The others are Health Minister Zahid Maleque and Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed.
Two technocrat ministers and a state minister resigned before the election. They are Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman, Post and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar and State Minister for Planning Shamsul Alam.
Only Yeafesh has been able to hold down his place in the new-look cabinet.
EXCLUDED STATE MINISTERS
From the outgoing government, State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Majumder, State Minister for Youth and Sport Md Zahid Ahsan Russel, State Minister for Social Welfare Md Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Housing and Public Works Sharif Ahmed and State Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs Fazilatun Nessa have failed to book a berth in the new cabinet.
Three state ministers failed to secure the ruling party’s ticket to run in the election this time. They are State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid, State Minister for Labour Monnujan Sufian and State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain.
Three other state ministers lost the election despite running on the Awami League’s ticket. They are State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali, State Minister for Rural Development and Cooperatives Swapan Bhattacharjee and State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman.
NO DEPUTY MINISTER
Habibun Nahar, deputy minister of environment, forest and climate change, and AKM Enamul Haque Shamim, deputy minister of water resources, have not been invited to join the new government.
[Writing in English by Ruhshabah Tabassum Huda, Arshi Fatiha Quazi and Osham-ul-Sufian Talukder]
