New cabinet to be sworn in today

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DHAKA, Jan 7, 2019 (BSS) – The 47-member council of ministers, led by Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina, will take oath at a ceremony in Bangabhaban around
3.30 pm today a week after the 11th parliamentary election was held on
December 30 last.

President Md Abdul Hamid will administer the oath to the new cabinet
members, his Press Secretary Md Joynal Abedin told BSS yesterday.

The new council of ministers includes 24 ministers, 19 state ministers and 3
deputy ministers, cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told a press
conference at the Secretariat yesterday afternoon. Some 27 new faces have
been inducted into the council of ministers.

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina will take oath as the prime minister
for the fourth term and the third term in a row.

The 24 ministers of the new cabinet are – Liberation War Affairs Minister
AKM Mozammel Haque, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader,
Agriculture Minister Md Abdur Razzak, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan,
Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Anisul Haque, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, LGRD and
Cooperatives Minister Md Tajul Islam, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni,
Foreign Affairs Minister AK Abdul Momen, Planning Minister MA Mannan,
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Textiles and Jute Minister
Golam Dastagir Gazi, Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque, Food
Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Social
Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed, Housing and Public Works Minister SM
Rezaul Karim, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab
Uddin, CHT Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, Land Minister Saifuzzaman
Chowdhury, Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujon, Science and Technology
Affairs Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman and Posts, Telecommunication and
Information Technology Minister Mostafa Jabbar.

The 19 state ministers are – Kamal Ahmed Majumder for Industries, Imran
Ahmed for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, Zahid Ahsan Russell for
Youth and Sports, Nasrul Hamid for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Md
Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru for Fisheries and Livestock, Begum Munnujan Sufian for
Labour and Employment, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury for Shipping, Md Zakir Hossain
for Primary and Mass Education, Md Shahriar Alam for Foreign Affairs, Junaid
Ahmed Palak for ICT Division, Farhad Hossain for Public Administration,
Swapan Bhattacharya for LGRD and Cooperatives, Zahid Faruque for Water
Resources, Md Murad Hasan for Health and Family Welfare, Sharif Ahmed for
Social Welfare, KM Khalid for Cultural Affairs, Dr Md Enamur Rahman for
Disaster Management and Relief, Md Mahbub Ali for Civil Aviation and Tourism
and Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah for Religious Affairs.

Three deputy ministers are Begum Habibun Nahar for Environment, Forest and
Climate Change, AKM Enamul Haque Shamim for Water Resources and Mohibul Hasan
Chowdhury for Education.

In the 11th parliamentary election, the Awami League attained a resounding
victory bagging 259 seats with “boat” symbol.

AL-led grand alliance secured a total of 288 seats while BNP-led Jatiya
Oikyafront bagged seven seats.

The Election Commission (EC) announced the results of 298 seats out of 300
as the voting in Gaibandha-3 constituency was postponed due to death of a
candidate earlier and the results of Brahmanbaria-2 seat will be announced
after reelection in its three centres.

HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party secured 20 seats with “plough” symbol while BNP
got five seats with “sheaf of paddy”.

Workers Party bagged three seats while Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal two,
Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh two and Tariqat Federation one with their grand
alliance’s main partner Awami League’s election symbol ‘boat’.

Gonoforum bagged two seats with “sheaf of paddy” and “rising sun” symbols
while Manju-led Jatiya Party (JP) one with ‘bicycle’ and independent
candidates got three seats.

On January 3, the newly-elected members of parliament of Awami League,
Jatiya Party (Ershad), Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bikalpa Dhara
Bangladesh, Tariqat Federation, Jatiya Party (Manju) and independents were
sworn in at a function at Jatiya Sangsad (JS). On that day, Jatiya Party (JP)
decided to act as the main opposition party in the 11th parliament.

However, elected lawmakers from BNP-led Oikyafront have not taken oath
yet.