All Set For Inauguration Of New Cabinet

Preparations have begun in earnest for the inauguration of the Awami League government's new cabinet led by Sheikh Hasina at the Bangabhaban. The members of the new cabinet have already been announced and the ruling party will form the government for a record-extending fourth consecutive term after they are sworn in on Thursday (Januaary 11).

After leading her party to a resounding victory in the Jan 7 election, Hasina is also set to create history by serving as prime minister of Bangladesh for an unprecedented fifth term.

President Md Shahabuddin will administer the oath of office to the new cabinet members at the presidential palace’s Darbar Hall at 7pm.

The prime minister will be the first to take an oath, followed by the ministers and state ministers.

The ceremony will be moderated by Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain, who on Wednesday, announced the names of the 37 members of the new cabinet. Their portfolios will be revealed after they take their oaths.

Around 1,300 guests, including diplomats and civil society members, have been invited to the ceremony, according Md Joynal Abedin, press secretary to the president.

For a fresh start, Hasina has picked 25 ministers and 11 state ministers.

Unlike the previous cabinet, no deputy ministers have been included this time.

In reconfiguring the cabinet on the back of winning an absolute majority in the general election, she has culled some big names, including in finance and commerce portfolios - dropping the broadest hint yet at big changes to her core team to manage the economy that has been under a lot of strain since the Russia-Ukraine war.

More than half of them are going to work in a Hasina cabinet for the first time. As many as 14 ministers and 12 state ministers from the outgoing government have not been given a berth in the new cabinet.