Staff Reporter:
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman, elder son of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman and late Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, yesterday took oath as the Prime Minister and formed the government with a 49-member cabinet.
The cabinet members include 25 ministers and 24 state ministers.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath of office and oath of secrecy to Tarique Rah-man and his new ministers at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Complex at 4:00 pm yesterday.
After the swearing-in, Tarique Rahman signed the oath of office and oath of secrecy.
The 25 ministers are- Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Amir Khoshru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud, Maj (retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram, Abu Jafar Md Zahid Hoss-ain, Dr Khalilur Rahman (Technocrat), Abdul Awal Mintoo, Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, Mizanur Rahman Minu, Nitai Roy Chowdhury, Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, Ariful Haque Chowdhury, Zahir Uddin Swapon, Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid (Technocrat), Afroza Khanam Rita, Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Asadul Habib Dulu, Md Asaduzzaman, Zakaria Taher, Dipen Dewan, ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon, Sarder Md Sakhawat Hossain, Fakir Mahbub Anam, and Sheikh Rabiul Alam.
The 24 state ministers are-M Rashiduzzaman Millat, Anindya Islam Amit, Md Shariful Alam, Shama Obaed Islam, Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, Barrister Kaiser Kamal, Farhad Hossain Azad, Md Aminul Haq (technocrat), Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin, Habibur Rashid, Md Rajib Ahsan, Md Abdul Bari, Mir Sha-he Alam, Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki, widely known as Zonayed Saki, Ishraque Hossain, Farzana Shar-min, Shaikh Faridul Islam, Nurul Haque Nur, Yasser Khan Chowdhury, M Iqbal Hossain, MA Muhith, Ahammad Sohel Manjur, Bobby Hajjaj and Ali Newaz Mahmud Khaiyam.
Breaking with a long-standing tradition in the Bangladesh history, the swearing-in ceremony of the new government was held at the South Plaza of the Parliament Complex instead of Bangabhaban, the Presi-dential palace.
Diplomatic sources said the leaders of different countries including President of the Maldives Dr Mo-hamed Muizzu, Bhutanese Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Indian Lok Sabha (parliament) Speaker Om Birla, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal Chaudhary, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Bala Nanda Sharma, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr Nalinda Jayatissa, among others, attended the ceremony.
Besides, guests present at the jam-packed glittering South Plaza of Bangladesh Parliament Complex in-cluded: Chief Justice, outgoing Chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and his council of advisers of the interim government, Chief Election Commissioner, Judges of the Supreme Court, MPs, political leaders, chiefs of the three services, members of diplomatic corps, senior journalists, and high civil and military officials.
Tarique Rahman’s spouse Dr. Zubaida Rahman and their daughter Barrister Zaima Rahman and other family members were present at the function.
Clad in black-suit with stripe and white shirt Tarique Rahman was looking very confident and lively at the South Plaza gathering. The historic venue was overflowing with about 1200 invited guests, while many of them were seen standing there also.
New Prime Minister as the Head of the Government was given a standing ovation when he entered the place of oath-taking ceremony.
Minutes later President Shahabuddin entered the venue where the Prime Minister took oath at 4.00 pm.
The ceremony began with the recitation from the holy Quran.
Tarique Rahman took oath first pledging to preserve, protect and defend the national constitution and the state sovereignty.
Cabinet Secretary Dr Nasimul Gani conducted the oath-taking ceremony.
On February 12, the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (JS) polls coincided with the referendum was held in 299 seats. The BNP attained a resounding victory bagging 209 seats with the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’ symbol.
Their one-time ally Jamaat-e-Islami will now play their role as the main opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad with 68 seats.
Other parties and independent candidates have won the remaining seats.
Earlier, people had assembled in processions from different parts of the capital, chanting slogans hailing Tarique Rahman, the leader of the young.
