PM picks 19 new faces for new cabinet

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's new cabinet, composed of 25 ministers and 11 state ministers, is set to be sworn in on Thursday evening.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath to the new cabinet members at Durbar Hall of the Bangabhaban. Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain will conduct the oath-taking ceremony.

The new faces in the cabinet as full minister include former commerce minister Lt Colonel (retd) Muhammad Faruk Khan, former foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, prime minister's special envoy Saber Hossain Chowdhury, former chief whip Md Abdus Shahid, and RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury.

The list also names former local government state minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Awami League's organising secretary Md Abdur Rahman, former fisheries and livestock state minister Narayan Chandra Chanda, retired army officer Abdus Salam, state minister for religion Md Faridul Haque Khan, Md Zillul Hakim and Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hasan.

Fifteen figures, including Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque, Planning Minister MA Mannan, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, and Lands Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, who had sparked discussions and controversies on several occasions over the past five years, did not made it to the new cabinet.

The other names to have been dropped include Health Minister Zahid Maleque, Jute and Textiles Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi, Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim, Environment Minister Shahab Uddin, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan, Expatriate Welfare Minister Imran Ahmed, Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed, and Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushai Singh. 

The prime minister has chosen new faces in their positions.

Among the 25 full ministers of the new government, only 10 served in the outgoing cabinet. State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain and Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hasan have been invited to take oath as full ministers. 

However, no leader of any other partner party of the ruling Awami League, including Jatiyo Party, got a place in the cabinet.

Among those invited to take oath as ministers are Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Education Minister Dipu Moni, Local Government Minister Md Tajul Islam, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder and Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud.  

Briefing journalists on Wednesday evening, Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain said the members of the new cabinet have been requested to participate in the swearing-in ceremony at Bangabhaban at 7pm on Thursday. 

"A notification will be issued to determine their portfolios. From then, the journey of the new cabinet will begin and the previous cabinet will be dissolved," he added. 

In the current cabinet, there were 25 full ministers apart from the prime minister.

Besides, there will be two technocrats in the cabinet. They are former Science and Technology Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman and Samanta Lal Sen.

Technocrat minister Mustafa Jabbar who served the outgoing government as post and telecommunication minister has been dropped out of the cabinet.

Eleven new state ministers, along with seven fresh faces, were named to the new cabinet. 

New state ministers are – Simin Hossain (Rimi), daughter of independent Bangladesh's first finance minister Tajuddin Ahmad, who also led the Provisional Government of Bangladesh as its prime minister during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, MP of Dhaka-17 constituency Mohammad Ali Arafat, MP of Patuakhali-4 Md Mohibbur Rahman, MP of Khagrachari Kujendra Lal Tripura, MP of Gazipur-3 Rumana Ali, MP of Sylhet-2 Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury and MP of Tangail-6 Ahsanul Islam (Titu).

The outgoing cabinet included 19 state ministers. Two former state ministers were promoted to full ministers this time. 

Notably, fourteen state ministers from the previous cabinet were excluded this time.

Four state ministers retain their positions: Nasrul Hamid (Power & Energy), Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury (Shipping), Zunaid Ahmed Palak (ICT), and Zahid Faruk (Water Resources).