Cabinet reshuffle draws mixed reactions, more changes may be coming

The government has carried out its first cabinet reshuffle six months into its term. Shortly after Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was sworn in as president on Friday, three new full ministers and two state ministers took oath.

One state minister was promoted to full minister. At the same time, one minister was given a different portfolio, while another was removed from the cabinet and appointed as an adviser to the prime minister with the rank of a minister.

The reshuffle has drawn mixed reactions in political and administrative circles. Some people close to the government see it as an initial outcome of the prime minister’s promised six-month performance review. Others view it as an effort to fill several vacant posts, redistribute portfolios and improve political coordination.

Meanwhile, discussions have already begun about another cabinet reorganisation. A responsible source at the Prime Minister’s Office said further changes could come within a few weeks. However, discussions in political and administrative circles suggest that the next round could be delayed until September.

The biggest question raised by this reshuffle concerns the structure of the cabinet. Following the expansion and redistribution of portfolios, several ministries now have a minister, a state minister and a prime minister’s adviser overseeing matters related to the same ministry. Questions have also been raised about why both a full minister and a state minister have been appointed to several relatively small ministries.

The issue of austerity has also come into the discussion. The prime minister’s personal frugality has sent a positive message to the government and administration. On the other hand, there is debate over whether the expansion of the cabinet contradicts that message to some extent.

After Friday’s changes, the cabinet has 51 members, including the prime minister. There are 26 full ministers and 24 state ministers besides the prime minister. Outside the cabinet, there are 10 advisers to the prime minister—six with the rank of minister and five with the rank of state minister.

According to the Cabinet Division’s list, advisers with the rank of minister include Nazrul Islam Khan, who is in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, who oversees the Ministry of Industries.

Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir is responsible for the ministries of Finance and Planning, while Ismail Jabiullah oversees Public Administration. Among the advisers with the rank of state minister, Humaiun Kobir had been responsible for the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Disaster Management and Relief, and Civil Aviation and Tourism.

After taking oath as a state minister on 21 August, his responsibilities have changed. It has not yet been announced whether he will continue as adviser to the prime minister for the other two ministries. Zahir Uddin Swapan has newly been appointed political adviser with the rank of minister.

Following the latest changes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has one full minister and two state ministers. It is unprecedented for a ministry to have two state ministers. Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman already had Shama Obaed Islam as a state minister. Humaiun Kobir has now joined her. Their respective responsibilities have not yet been announced separately.

Home Minister and BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo on Saturday, “There is no problem with having several state ministers in a ministry. For example, in the United States, alongside the secretary of state there are deputy secretaries of state and undersecretaries. To speed up government work, more than one state minister can work alongside the minister at the Foreign Affairs Ministry. This exists in the governments of various countries.”

Several relatively small ministries, in terms of their size, activities and budgets, now have a minister, a state minister and an adviser. Some even have special assistants.

The Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment is relatively small, yet it now has a minister, a state minister and an adviser with the rank of state minister. There is also a special assistant to the prime minister, with the rank of secretary, responsible for overseas employment in the Asia-Pacific region. His name is Md Shakirul Islam Khan.

Ariful Haque Chowdhury is the minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, while Nurul Haque is the state minister. Mahdi Amin is the prime minister’s adviser for the ministry. He is also responsible for three other ministries—Education, Primary and Mass Education, and Labour and Employment.

The Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs had remained without a full minister for more than two and a half months. Saching Prue Jerry, a representative of the hill communities, has now been made a full minister. Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin was already serving there as state minister. The ministry has traditionally been headed by representatives of ethnic minority communities. This time, however, a state minister from outside the hill communities has been appointed alongside the full minister. Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin is also serving as state minister for the Ministry of Land.

Kazi Shah Mofazzal Houssain Kaikobad was already serving as minister for Religious Affairs. Mohammad Shamim Kaiser has now been appointed state minister. Muslim clerics from Hefazat-e-Islam and other groups in the same ideological camp have already issued statements objecting to his appointment.

The ministries of Information and Broadcasting, Culture, Planning, as well as Primary and Mass Education also now have three levels of political leadership—a minister, a state minister and an adviser. The ministries of Health and Environment have ministers and state ministers as well as subject-specific special assistants.

In the latest reshuffle, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho, an ally of the BNP in its electoral alliance, was appointed information and broadcasting minister. Some see this as a reflection of political partnership. However, the reason Zahir Uddin Swapan was removed from the ministry remains unclear.

Zahed Ur Rahman is serving as an adviser with the rank of state minister for the ministries of Information and Broadcasting and Culture. Yasser Khan Choudhury is also a state minister in the same ministry.

By contrast, one full minister, Sheikh Robiul Alam, is responsible for three major ministries—Road Transport and Bridges, Railways, and Shipping. He has two state ministers working alongside him, Habibur Rashid and Md Rajib Ahsan.

One full minister is also responsible for the Ministries of Industries, Commerce, and Textiles and Jute. The Finance and Planning ministries have a minister, a state minister and an adviser with the rank of minister.

Md Aminur Rashid is the minister for Agriculture and Livestock. Sultan Salahuddin is serving as state minister for Livestock.

These contrasts in the allocation of political leadership across ministries have sparked discussion both within and outside the BNP, as well as in the wider public sphere.

Many see the first cabinet reshuffle as a result of the government’s performance over its first six months. At the beginning of his government, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman announced a 180-day action plan.

The prime minister’s information adviser, Zahir Uddin Swapan, also recently said that a committee comprising advisers and special assistants at the Prime Minister’s Office was reviewing the achievements, activities and limitations of various ministries during their first 180 days.

In other words, there is little doubt that the six-month performance review has begun. However, Friday’s reshuffle cannot yet be described as the complete outcome of that review. The government has not disclosed the criteria used to assess ministers and state ministers, which ministers performed well or poorly against which indicators, or why particular portfolios were changed.

There has been discussion within the government that seven or eight ministries have not been progressing as expected. However, that appears to have had only a limited impact on this round of changes. For this reason, some people close to the government regard the reshuffle as the “first phase” of the six-month performance review.

After the reshuffle, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury told journalists that the cabinet’s performance would be reviewed after a certain period and changes would be made as necessary. He said there would be further evaluations in the future and more changes could be made to the cabinet.

Sources close to the government and the BNP said the cabinet could be expanded and portfolios redistributed again within the next few weeks. Several new ministers, and particularly state ministers, could be added at that time.

Portfolios could be divided among ministers who currently oversee several ministries, including Agriculture and Livestock; Commerce, Industries, and Textiles and Jute; and Railways, Road Transport and Bridges, and Shipping.

However, the matter is still under discussion. No final information is available on the possible candidates or how many new members may be added. The prime minister may make a decision based on the ongoing performance review, the government’s one-year programme, coordination between the party and the government, and regional representation.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told Prothom Alo that cabinet restructuring and redistribution of portfolios fall within the prime minister’s authority and are routine matters for a government.

The election of a party member as president naturally created a vacancy. The Ministry of Local Government is an important ministry and needs an appointment. There had also been no full minister in charge of the food portfolio.

Two more people have been appointed state ministers. “Everyone who took oath is qualified,” he said. “You could call this an assessment of six months of performance, or the first step towards running the government more efficiently.”

Among political governments since 1991, three cabinets were larger than the current 51-member cabinet. The Awami League government’s cabinet in the 2009–14 term had 62 members. The BNP government’s cabinet in 2001–06 had 60 members, while the Awami League government’s cabinet in 2014–19 had 59.

If new members are added, the current cabinet could move even closer to the size of those three larger cabinets of the past.

As the government conducts its six-month performance review, three issues are now raising separate questions: expanding the size of the cabinet, placing multiple layers of political leadership within the same ministry, and appointing ministers and state ministers even to smaller ministries while leaving major ministries under the responsibility of a single minister.

For this reason, many people concerned with the matter view last Friday’s reshuffle not as a final reorganisation, but rather as preparation for another round of changes