Six new ministers are likely to be inducted into the cabinet today, sources in the Cabinet Division and the ruling Awami League said.
The new faces are former commerce minister and Gopalganj 1 lawmaker Faruk Khan, former foreign affairs minister and Chandpur 3 lawmaker Dipu Moni, Nurul Islam, Tarana Halim, Awami League Organising Secretary Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury and AFM Bahauddin Nasim.
According to Nurul Islam, the oath-taking ceremony will be held at Bangabhaban this evening.
“I have received a phone call from the Cabinet Division in the evening,” Nurul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune around 9pm last night.
When contacted, Faruk Khan said: “I have heard about it but I am yet to receive a phone call from the Cabinet Division.”
As the Dhaka Tribune contacted Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury over phone, he said he was not sure of his induction into the cabinet.
Rumours of induction of new faces spread yesterday following a one-to-one meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan after the cabinet meeting.
Asked about the rumours, Mosharraf told journalists after the meetings: “You will be informed if something like that happens.”
Seeking anonymity, a senior leader of the Awami League told the Dhaka Tribune that changes would come in five ministries – the Food and Disaster Management and Relief Ministry, the Home Affairs Ministry, the Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry, and the Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry.
The prime minister might dismiss Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya for corruption scandal and Food Minister Quamrul Islam for importing sub-standard wheat from Brazil, the ruling party leader said.
There was a rumour that Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali might be dropped from the cabinet.
A minister may be added to the Ministry of Home Affairs and a state minister to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
The Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry may also see a new minister as its Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain has already been burdened with the additional responsibility of the LGRD Ministry following the removal of Syed Ashraful Islam.
Syed Ashraf, who was relieved of his duty as the LGRD minister last week, skipped the regular cabinet meeting yesterday.
The Awami League general secretary had attended the previous meeting held on July 6.
Yesterday’s meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was held at the Prime Minister’s Office in the morning.
Emerging out of the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told journalists that Syed Ashraf did not attend the meeting.
When asked whether Syed Ashraf was invited to the meeting the cabinet secretary said: “He did not attend today’s meeting that does not mean he will remain absent in future.”
On July 7, Sheikh Hasina removed Syed Ashraful Islam from the LGRD Ministry and made him a minister without portfolio.
Later, the prime minister handed over the charge of the LGRD Ministry to Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain as an additional duty.
Syed Ashraf, son of first acting president of Bangladesh Syed Nazrul Islam in 1971, was appointed as the LGRD minister twice in 2009 and 2014.
Ashraf’s car has not carried the national flag since his removal from the cabinet.