Who to be appointed as advisers in place of Mahfuj Alam and Asif Mahmud

Two advisers, Mahfuj Alam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, to the interim government’s advisory council are set to resign. Both will step down before the announcement of the schedule for the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) elections, senior government sources said.

Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain is currently serving as the adviser to the Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Mahfuj Alam, meanwhile, is adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Their resignation will leave advisory posts vacant across three ministries.

Discussions are now under way about whether these crucial portfolios will be reassigned to new faces or redistributed among the serving advisers.

According to senior government insiders, adviser Adilur Rahman Khan may be given additional responsibility for the Ministry of Local Government. He serves at the Ministry of Housing and Public Works as well as the Ministry of Industries.

Environment affairs adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan may also be given additional responsibility for the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. This is the direction internal government discussions appear to be taking.

Sources indicate that Adilur Rahman initially expressed reluctance to take on the Local Government portfolio, due to persistent media reports about irregularities within the ministry.

He reportedly feared that he could be blamed for any irregularities at the ministry. However, the government maintains the position that no new adviser will be recruited at this late stage; instead, existing advisers should take on the roles. Considering this, Adilur Rahman was ultimately persuaded to accept the responsibility.

Following the fall of the Bangladesh Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina on 5 August last year, an interim government led by professor Muhammad Yunus was formed on 8 August.

Within this government, Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, representing the student leaders of the July mass uprising, became advisers to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

In a subsequent redistribution of portfolios, Asif Mahmud was also assigned the Ministry of Labour. Shortly after the formation of the government, Mahfuj Alam was made special assistant to the chief adviser, with the rank of an adviser.

In a later round of portfolio reshuffling, Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain was given charge of the Ministry of Local Government as well. Since then, he has been overseeing two of the government’s most important ministries: Local Government, and Youth and Sports.

Meanwhile, student leaders who had led the July uprising, launched a new political party, the National Citizen Party (NCP) in February.

At that time, Nahid Islam resigned from the advisory council to take charge of the party. Following his departure, Mahfuj Alam was appointed adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.