The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is returning to power for the fourth time after a two-decade hiatus after an absolute victory in the 13th parliamentary elections. The new cabinet to be formed under the leadership of party chairman Tarique Rahman will be a well-coordinated combination of young and old. For now, it has been decided to form a 30-member primary cabinet, which includes 12 full ministers and 18 state ministers.
After the newly elected parliament members take oath on Tuesday (February 17), the Cabinet Division will formally inform the concerned. Although there is great curiosity about this cabinet in political circles at home and abroad, the final list is reserved only for the future Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
Reliable sources in the party said that many senior and standing committee members may not be seen in the cabinet this time. Tarique Rahman is planning to build the country with the slogan of 'Bangladesh first', a combination of skills, experience and youth.
In addition to the elected members of parliament of BNP, at least four experts can be included in the cabinet under the technocrat quota. In addition, there is a strong possibility of several leaders of the partner parties who are active on the streets in the simultaneous movement. Already, 37 cars and the same number of residences have been prepared for the prospective ministers from the government transport pool, which indicates that the size of the cabinet may be close to 40 people initially.
Among the experienced leaders in the list of potential members of the cabinet, the names of Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Abdul Moin Khan and Mirza Abbas are being heard. However, there are rumors that Mirza Fakhrul is more interested in serving as the deputy leader of the parliament than in the ministry. Experienced ministers like Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed and Altaf Hossain Chowdhury can be seen in charge of important ministries like Finance, Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs.
Apart from this, discussions are underway to include leaders like Sanjida Islam Tuli and Mahdi Amin in the technocrat quota as young and talented faces. Party leaders and activists believe that young leaders like Andalib Rahman Partha, Jonayed Saki and Nurul Haque Nur among the partners can also get important ministry responsibilities.
The biggest feature of this newly elected government is to keep the parliament at the center of accountability. Tarique Rahman has previously said in the party forum that the ministers will be directly accountable to the parliament. To this end, a plan has been made to make parliamentary activities more lively by giving someone experienced the responsibility of the deputy leader of the parliament.
This is the first time since 2001 that BNP has formed a government with a single force, but they are determined to provide an inclusive administration in the interest of national unity. After three decades, Bangladesh is going to get a new prime minister and a new government capable of facing the challenges of the 21st century, with the swearing-in of President Md. Shahabuddin at the South Plaza of the National Parliament Building at 4 pm.
