The tenure of Masud Bin Momen, the 26th Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, ended in December 2022. The government extended his employment on contract for two years before the expiry of his service period. Masood bin Momen's contract will end on December 5 this year. The process of finding his successor is scheduled to begin several months before the expiration of his contract. The names of Syeda Muna Tasneem and Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman – Bangladesh's high commissioners to the United Kingdom and India respectively – are emerging as frontrunners. However, both these 11th BCS officers are to go on Post Retirement Leave (PRL) on 26th and 31st December respectively. As a result, if any of these officers are to be recruited as Foreign Secretary, they would have to be appointed months before their PRL date.
Later, the person selected for the post will have to be given extension of job on contract basis. There was no such instance of extension of contractual tenure within a few months of appointment as Foreign Secretary in the last two decades.
Let us tell you that in the beginning of 2022, the name of former Bangladeshi Ambassador to America Rabab Fatima had come up as the successor of Masood Bin Momen. Later the government extended the tenure of Masood bin Momen for two years. Rabab Fatima later became Under-Secretary of the United Nations in June of the same year.
Former Foreign Secretary Md Tauheed Hussain told Prothom Alo that the decision to select a former diplomat on contract basis in place of a regular diplomat is a political decision.
He believes that the Ministry of External Affairs has sufficient quality diplomats to perform the duties of an ambassador. Therefore there is no reason to appoint diplomats on contract for two years beyond the normal service period. The recruitment process would have been easier if professional diplomats were regularly deployed as ambassadors years ago.
*The report, which was originally published in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Shamim Raza and Ghalib Ashraf.