Members of the new cabinet led by Prime Minister Tariq Rahman took oath on Tuesday. Although ministers are traditionally administered the oath of office at Banga Bhavan, the official residence of the President, this tradition was broken on this occasion. The ceremony was held under the open sky in the South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhawan (National Parliament Building).
It marks the formal beginning of the tenure of the newly elected government.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) President Tariq Rahman was the first to take oath as Prime Minister. President Mohammad Shahabuddin administered him both the oath of office and secrecy.
After the swearing-in of the Prime Minister, the President administered the same oath to 25 ministers and then to 24 ministers of state.
According to BNP and government sources, the allocation of ministerial portfolios has already been finalized, although the official gazette notification had not been issued at the time of filing this report.
Nevertheless, some ministries have already hinted at their new leadership in press releases. For example, the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs announced that their newly appointed minister, Abu Jafar Mohammad Zahid Hussain, and Minister of State, Farzana Sharmin, will take charge at the ministry on Wednesday and exchange views with officials and staff.
Additionally, some ministry websites have updated their pages to reflect the names of newly appointed ministers. The Local Government Division website lists Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as minister and Mir Shahe Alam as minister of state. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism has named Afroza Khanum as minister and M Rashiduzzaman Millat as minister of state. Similarly, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges lists Sheikh Rabiul Alam as a minister.
The verified Facebook page of BNP has also revealed the portfolio information of several members of the new cabinet.
Division of departments among ministers possible
According to government sources and information published on the BNP’s verified Facebook page, the ministers’ portfolios are expected to be as follows:
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir – Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative Societies
Ameer Khasru Mahmood Choudhary – Finance and Planning
Salauddin Ahmed – Home Ministry
Iqbal Hassan Mahmood (Tuku) – Power, Energy and Mineral Resources
Major (Retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed – Liberation War Cases
AZM Zahid Hussain – Women & Child Affairs & Social Welfare
Khalilur Rahman (Technocrat) – Foreign Affairs
Abdul Awal Mintu – Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Qazi Shah Mofazzal Hussain Kaikobad – Religious Affairs
Mizanur Rahman Minu — Land
Nitai Roy Chowdhury – Cultural Affairs
Khandakar Abdul Muktadir – Commerce, Industry, Textiles and Jute
Ariful Haq Choudhury – Labor and Employment; Migrant welfare and overseas employment
Zaheer Uddin Swapan – Information and Broadcasting
Mohammad Amin Ur Rasheed (Technocrat) – Agriculture; Fisheries and Livestock; Eat
Afroza Khanum – Civil Aviation and Tourism
Shahid Uddin Chaudhary Ani – Water Resources
Asadul Habib Dulu – Disaster Management and Relief
Mohammad Asaduzzaman – Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Zakaria Taher – Housing and Public Works
Dipen Dewan – Chittagong Hill Tracts case
ANM Ehshanul Haq Milan – Education; primary and mass education
Sardar Sakhawat Hossain (Bakul) — Health and Family Planning
Fakir Mehboob Anam (Swapn) – Posts and Telecommunications; Science and Technology
Sheikh Rabiul Alam – Road Transport and Bridges; Railways; shipping
Ministers of State and their departments
The ministers of state are expected to get the following portfolios:
M Rashiduzzaman Millat – Civil Aviation and Tourism
Anindya Islam Amit – Power, Energy and Mineral Resources
MD Shariful Alam – Commerce, Industry, Textiles and Jute
Shama Obaid Islam – Foreign Affairs
Sultan Salahuddin Tuku – Agriculture; Fisheries and Livestock; Eat
Kaiser Kamal — Land
Farhad Hussain Azad – Water Resources
Aminul Haq (Technocrat) – Youth and Sports
Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin – Chittagong Hill Tracts case
Habibur Rashid – Road Transport and Bridges
MD Rajib Ahsan – Railways and Shipping
Mohammad Abdul Bari – Public Administration
Mir Shahe Alam – Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative Societies
Mohammed Zonaid Abdur Rahim Saki (Zonaid Saki) – Finance and Planning
Ishraq Hussain – Liberation War Case
Farzana Sharmin Putul – Women and Child Affairs and Social Welfare
Sheikh Faridul Islam – Environment, Forest and Climate Change; religious matters; Law
MD Nurul Haq Noor – Labor and Employment; Migrant welfare and overseas employment
Yasser Khan Chaudhry – Information and Broadcasting
AK Iqbal Hussain – Disaster Management and Relief
MA Muhit – Health and Family Welfare; Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology; Science and Technology
Ahmed Sohail Manzoor – Housing and Public Works
Bobby Hajjaj – Education; primary and mass education
Ali Newaz Mahmoud Khayyam – Cultural Affairs
Although a formal gazette notification is still awaited, revelations from ministries and the ruling party indicate that the distribution of departments has been finalised, with the new administration ready to begin full operations immediately.