The new Cabinet is going to take oath on Sunday amid apprehension over the longevity of the incoming government as pressure is mounting for an early election with the participation of all parties including the BNP and its allies that boycotted the January 5 polls demanding a neutral person to supervise the poll-time caretaker administration. President Abdul Hamid yesterday invited Awami League (AL) President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to form government.
The President came up with the invitation when Sheikh Hasina requested him to take necessary steps for formation of government during a courtesy call on him at Bangabhaban yesterday evening, said President’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim.
“The Prime Minister has apprised the President that she has been elected AL Parliamentary Party (ALPP) leader in the maiden meeting of AL Parliamentary Party,” Karim said.
Bangabhaban officials confirmed that the new Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, will take oath at 3.30pm on Sunday and necessary preparations have been initiated for the oath-taking ceremony. The President’s assistant press secretary, Mahamudul Hossain, told the media that the new Cabinet would be sworn in at 3.30pm on Sunday. It is learnt that the size of this Cabinet would not be large and the number of ministers would not cross 40 at the primary stage.
The Awami League (AL) bagged 231 seats clinching a landslide victory in the 10th Jatiya Sangsad poll, held on January 5.
Earlier, Sheikh Hasina was unanimously elected leader of the AL Parliamentary Party (ALPP) yesterday.
AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam proposed the name of Sheikh Hasina as the ALPP leader, while chief whip Abdus Shahid seconded the proposal.
Jatiya Party leaders are still divided over taking part in the new government, though a group of ministerial aspirants among the lawmakers, including Anisul Islam Mahmud and Ziauddin Bablu, are exerting pressure on the party leadership to be included in the government, party leaders said.
JP parliamentary party leader Rawshan Ershad met Hasina at Ganabhaban last night and it is learnt that she had placed some conditions on behalf of JP chief HM Ershad during the meeting.
When asked whether the Jatiya Party will join the new Cabinet, JP leader Firoz Rashid, MP said they will join the Cabinet as well as work as the main Opposition in Parliament, since the new government is going to be formed on the basis of national consensus.
Another party presidium member, M Mujibul Haque Chunnu, said he has heard that they will be the main Opposition party and will join the new Cabinet as well. “The party will take the final decision in this regard within a day or two,” he said.
However, speculation is rife that the new government may not complete its full five-year tenure as the January 5 poll was not participatory and was held to comply with Constitutional requirements.
The BNP and its allies have termed the January 5 elections unacceptable and illegal and have demanded that the elections be scrapped.
The international community is also critical of the
elections and called for holding “a participatory and credible election” through talks among the major political parties.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her first press conference hinted that the mode of holding the next election can be determined through discussions with the BNP if it parts ways with Jamaat-e-Islami.
Jatiya Party, which emerged as the main Opposition in the absence of the BNP, has also said that it was expecting a mid-term election.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Rawshan Ershad said a mid-term election could be held after discussions among the major political parties.
Courtesy of The Independent
