No condition to share cabinet posts with allies: Quader

The Awami League did not form an alliance on the condition of sharing cabinet positions with its allies, said General Secretary Obaidul Quader.

The road transport and bridges minister spoke to reporters after paying tribute to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi on Tuesday.

“We have formed the alliance. It does not make it mandatory to appoint our allies as ministers. The 14-party alliance has been our partner through thick and thin. They remained our ally in the past and we cannot say that it would not be the same in future,” he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has always included representatives from the Awami League’s allied parties in her administration, has not chosen any of them for her latest cabinet.

The Awami League formed its first government under the leadership of Hasina in 1996. Hasina included the Jatiya Party’s Anwar Hossain Manju and JSD’s ASM Abdur Rab in her cabinet at the time.

Then, in 2008, Hasina’s cabinet included the Jatiya Party leaders such as GM Quader and the Samyabadi Dal’s Dilip Barua.

JSD President Hasanul Haq Inu was added in 2012 while Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon and Jatiya Party leaders before the 2014 elections.

This is the first time Hasina has formed a cabinet exclusively with the members of her own party.

The departures include Inu, Social Welfare Minister Rashed Khan Menon and Water Resources Minister Jatiya Party’s Anwar Hossain Manju.

Jatiya Party members such as Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, State Minister for Local Government Mashiur Rahman Ranga and State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu have also been left out.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handpicked the cabinet members. “It was her choice. We’ll perform focusing on the interest of the people; that is our promise,” said Quader.

There is no tension in the alliance over the fresh cabinet, said Quader adding he believes the new cabinet will be ‘successful’.