Dhaka: Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Monday took oath as Prime Minister of the country for the 4th term, including the 3rd consecutive one, along with her 46 cabinet members following her party Awami League’s massive victory in the 11th national election, reports the UNB.

With the oath taking of new ministers, state ministers and deputy ministers, the country gets an all-AL cabinet after 1973.

Apart from the Prime Minister, there are 24 ministers, 19 state ministers and three deputy ministers in the new cabinet.

President Abdul Hamid administered the oath to the Prime Minister at 3:40 pm while to 24 ministers at 3:46 pm, to 19 state ministers at 3:53 pm and to three deputy ministers at 3:57 pm at Bangabhaban.

The gazette over the new cabinet was published soon after the oath-taking ceremony. With the publication of the gazette, the outgoing cabinet was also abolished.

On Thursday, President Abdul Hamid invited Awami League President Sheikh Hasina to form the new government.

Fresh blood

Of the 47-member cabinet, 27 are new faces who are picked in a bid to infuse dynamism into the cabinet activities to implement the election manifesto Awami League placed before the nation. 

Twenty-three ministers, nine state ministers and two deputy ministers of the immediate past cabinet did not find their names in the new cabinet.

Election victory and manifesto

The Awami League-led Grand Alliance registered a landslide victory in the December-30 general election bagging 288 seats out of 298.

Awami League alone took 257 seats while Jatiya Party, a component of the alliance, 22.

On December 18, Awami League unveiled its 21-point manifesto for the 11th parliamentary elections promising to ensure urban facilities in every village and use the potentials of youths for the progress of the country with the slogan - ‘Bangladesh on the march towards prosperity’.

The promises also include transforming the youth into skilled manpower, creating jobs for them, zero tolerance against corruption, ensuring nutritious and safe food, uprooting terrorism, militancy and drug proliferation, speedy implementation of mega projects, consolidating democracy, eliminating poverty, improving the standard of education, boosting investment, ensuring quality healthcare for all, ensuring increased utilisation of digital technology, power and energy security, modernising agricultural system, efficient and service-oriented public administration, citizen-friendly law enforcement agencies, development of marine resources, ensuring road safety, ensuring welfare of elderly and special people and achieving sustainable development for Bangladesh.

Quader sees challenge  

AL General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said implementing their party’s election manifesto is the main challenge for the 47 new cabinet members who were sworn on Monday.

Talking to reporters at Bangabhaban just after the oath-taking ceremony, he said, “Now our main challenge is to implement the manifesto that our party presented before the election. We’ll work at various stages for implementing it.”

Quader said he could have understood through discussions with their party president Sheikh Hasina that the new cabinet would have big surprises.  “But, I think nobody is going to lose anything. Nobody is dropped, but there’re changes in responsibilities.”

He said many ministers of the last cabinet were not included in the new one in the interest of the party. “We would like to make our party smarter and stronger further under their leadership.”

Replying to a question, he said though no MP of their party’s alliance partners is inducted in the cabinet, the 14 alliance partners are united and working together with Awami League.

During its five-year tenure, the Awami League general secretary said, the cabinet will witness expansions and reshuffles. “Some leaders may lose their cabinet portfolios halfway through based on their performances and some leaders may be included afresh the same way.”

He also said those cabinet members will not be able to perform well will lose their positions after evaluation.

Earlier, talking to reporters at the Secretariat, Quader said members of the new cabinet must deliver as per the election pledges of the party to retain their positions in the cabinet.  

He also said the cabinet involving new and old ones will be more dynamic. “The Prime Minister formed the new cabinet in that way so that the election promises could be implemented,” he said.

Momen eyes economic diplomacy 

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said he will give priority to economic diplomacy, among other important issues, as the government will be working to take the country to higher development trajectory. 

“Economic diplomacy will be prioritised. That’s what I can tell you," Dr Momen told UNB over phone after taking oath as Foreign Minister at Bangabhaban on Monday. 

The new Foreign Minister, however, did not want to elaborate right now his plans. 

Hasan to help credible media 

New Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said he would consider providing state assistance to good media outlets that cannot perform smoothly for various obstacles. “I’ll look into how the state can assist the credible and good media in the truest sense, they either may be newspapers or televisions, that can’t do good works for various barriers,” he said in his immediate reaction with reporters after taking oath as a minister at Bangabhaban.