Bangladesh’s new Cabinet is expected to take oath on Thursday, a day after the newly-elected parliament members are to be sworn in, officials said on Tuesday. “President Mohammad Shahabuddin will administer the ministers’ oath of office on Thursday,” a Bangabhaban presidential palace spokesman said. Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain said Members of Parliament-elect would be sworn in on Wednesday at the Jatiya Sangsad, where parliamentary speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury would administer the ceremony.
Ruling Awami League president, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is widely assumed to be the premier for the fifth term, fourth consecutively, as her party’s new parliamentary committee is expected to elect her for the position in a meeting on Wednesday shortly after their oath of office at the Jatiya Sangsad. Hossain is tasked to invite new ministers to take the oath at Bangabhaban. When asked about the size of the new cabinet and who could be inducted into the council of ministers, the top bureaucrat said, “I have not got any direction yet”.
Chief Whip Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury said the Election Commission would publish the results of the polls in the form of a gazette on Tuesday.
The members are expected to take the oath within three days of the gazette notification publication.
The ruling Awami League headed by Prime Minister Hasina won 222 seats; the Jatiya Party 11 seats; the Workers’ Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Bangladesh Kalyan Party one seat each; and independent candidates won 61 seats.
Hasina won the Gopalganj-3 seat in a landslide victory in the election, securing her eighth term as a lawmaker.On Monday, the Election Commission announced the unofficial voting results in 298 of the country’s 300 parliamentary constituencies. Polls for one constituency, Naogaon-2, were postponed following the death of a candidate in December. The Election Commission will announce the result of another constituency, Mymensingh-3, later as polling of one of the centres was withheld, the Daily Star Bangladesh quoted Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal as saying.
Hasina pays homage
to Bangabandhu
Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday paid glowing tribute to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after her party’s landslide victory in the 12th parliamentary election.
The 76-year-old leader, ruling the nation since 2009, won a fifth overall term in the one-sided election on Sunday, which witnessed a low turnout.
She paid homage by placing a wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu inside the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
Mujibur Rahman’s younger daughter and the prime minister’s younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, later also separately placed a wreath at the portrait.
The prime minister’s daughter Saima Wazed and Sheikh Rehana’s son Radwan Mujib Siddiq were present on the occasion.
After laying the wreath, Sheikh Hasina stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect for the memory of Bangabandhu, who was assassinated on August 15, 1975.
Earlier in the morning, the prime minister along with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana and daughter Saima Wazed went to the Banani graveyard and paid tributes to those killed on August 15.
After laying the wreaths, they stood in solemn silence for some time.
They also spread flower petals on the graves there.
Sheikh Hasina and Rehana also offered Fateha and prayed for eternal peace for the departed souls of August 15, 1975.
Saima Wazed and Radwan Mujib Siddiq were present on the occasion.At the Banani graveyard, Bangamata Begum Fazilatun Nesa Mujib, Sheikh Kamal, Sheikh Jamal, Sheikh Russel and others of August 15, 1975, were laid to eternal rest.
Ruling Awami League-backed candidates won 222 seats in Sunday’s voting, while independent candidates - most of them allied with the Awami League - won 62 seats.
Besides, the Jatiya Party won only 11 seats and three single candidates from three parties — the Workers’ Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Bangladesh Kalyan Party — secured victory in their respective constituencies.
China congratulates Awami League
China on Tuesday congratulated the ruling Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League party in Bangladesh for winning the general elections, saying it wants to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership with Dhaka and cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.
“China congratulates Bangladesh for holding general elections as scheduled and we congratulate Awami League on winning the elections,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
“As a friend and neighbour, China supports Bangladesh in advancing the post-election political agenda in accordance with the law,” she said.
“We are ready to work with the new Bangladesh government based on mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs to carry out the traditional friendship and deepen BRI cooperation and strive for new progress of our strategic partnership of cooperation,” she said.
During President Xi Jinping’s visit to Dhaka in 2016, China was committed to providing USD 40 billion for various investment projects under which Bangladesh will receive USD 26 billion for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects and USD 14 billion for joint venture projects.
BRI is an ambitious programme for raising China-funded infrastructure across multiple countries aimed at boosting China’s economic and diplomatic clout.
The rapid expansion of Chinese investments in Bangladesh was regarded as the second highest by Beijing after the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Observers say Prime Minister Hasina who has been in power since 2009 maintained close ties with India and China and made effective use of investments from both countries to develop road and industrial infrastructure in the country.