Ministers and state ministers: who gets which portfolio

Members of the new cabinet led by prime minister Tarique Rahman were sworn in on Tuesday. Although ministers are traditionally administered the oath of office at Bangabhaban, the official residence of the president, the convention was broken on this occasion. The ceremony was held under the open sky at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban (national parliament building).

This marks the formal commencement of the newly elected government’s tenure.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairman Tarique Rahman was first to take the oath as prime minister. President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered both the oath of office and the oath of secrecy to him.

Following the prime minister’s swearing-in, the president administered the same oaths to 25 ministers and subsequently to 24 state ministers.

According to BNP and government sources, the allocation of ministerial portfolios has already been finalised, although the official gazette notification had not been issued at the time of filing this report.

Nevertheless, certain ministries have already indicated their new leadership in press releases. For example, the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs announced that their newly appointed minister, Abu Jafar Md Zahid Hossain, and state minister, Farzana Sharmin, will assume office at the ministry on Wednesday and exchange views with officials and staff.

In addition, some ministry websites have updated their pages to reflect the names of newly appointed ministers. The website of the Local Government Division lists Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as minister and Mir Shahe Alam as state minister. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism names Afroza Khanam as minister and M Rashiduzzaman Millat as state minister. Similarly, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges lists Sheikh Rabiul Alam as minister.

The BNP’s verified Facebook page has also disclosed portfolio information for many members of the new cabinet.

According to government sources and information published on the BNP’s verified Facebook page, the portfolios of the ministers are expected to be as follows:

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir — Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives

Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury — Finance and Planning

Salahuddin Ahmed — Home Affairs

Iqbal Hasan Mahmud (Tuku) — Power, Energy and Mineral Resources

Major (retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed — Liberation War Affairs

AZM Zahid Hossain — Women and Children Affairs and Social Welfare

Khalilur Rahman (technocrat) — Foreign Affairs

Abdul Awal Mintoo — Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Kazi Shah Mofazzal Houssain Kaikobad — Religious Affairs

Mizanur Rahman Minu — Land

Nitai Roy Chowdhury — Cultural Affairs

Khandaker Abdul Muktadir — Commerce, Industries, Textiles and Jute

Ariful Haque Choudhhury — Labour and Employment; Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment

Zahir Uddin Swapon — Information and Broadcasting

Mohammad Amin ur Rashid (technocrat) — Agriculture; Fisheries and Livestock; Food

Afroza Khanam — Civil Aviation and Tourism

Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee — Water Resources

Asadul Habib Dulu — Disaster Management and Relief

Md Asaduzzaman — Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs

Zakaria Taher — Housing and Public Works

Dipen Dewan — Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs

ANM Ehshanul Hoque Milon — Education; Primary and Mass Education

Sardar Sakhawat Hossain (Bakul) — Health and Family Planning

Fakir Mahbub Anam (Swapan) — Posts and Telecommunications; Science and Technology

Sheikh Rabiul Alam — Road Transport and Bridges; Railways; Shipping

The state ministers are expected to receive the following portfolios:

M Rashiduzzaman Millat — Civil Aviation and Tourism

Anindya Islam Amit — Power, Energy and Mineral Resources

Md Shariful Alam — Commerce, Industries, Textiles and Jute

Shama Obaed Islam — Foreign Affairs

Sultan Salahuddin Tuku — Agriculture; Fisheries and Livestock; Food

Kaiser Kamal — Land

Farhad Hossain Azad — Water Resources

Aminul Haque (technocrat) — Youth and Sports

Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin — Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs

Habibur Rashid — Road Transport and Bridges

Md Rajib Ahsan — Railways and Shipping

Md Abdul Bari — Public Administration

Mir Shahe Alam — Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives

Md Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki (Zonayed Saki) — Finance and Planning

Ishraque Hossain — Liberation War Affairs

Farzana Sharmin Putul — Women and Children Affairs and Social Welfare

Sheikh Faridul Islam — Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Religious Affairs; Law

Md Nurul Haque Nur — Labour and Employment; Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment

Yaser Khan Chowdhury — Information and Broadcasting

AK Iqbal Hossain — Disaster Management and Relief

MA Muhit — Health and Family Welfare; Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology; Science and Technology

Ahmed Sohel Manzur — Housing and Public Works

Bobby Hajjaj — Education; Primary and Mass Education

Ali Newaz Mahmud Khaiyam — Cultural Affairs

Although the formal gazette notification is still awaited, the disclosures by ministries and the ruling party indicate that the distribution of portfolios has been finalised, with the new administration poised to begin full operations immediately.