Hasina inducts two more in cabinet

IANS/Dhaka

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday appointed two more ministers to her cabinet, raising the members to 51.

President Abdul Hamid administered the oath to A H Mahmud Ali as minister at Bangabhaban (President’s Office) yesterday in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Xinhua reported.

Mohammad Najrul Islam was sworn in as state minister. Portfolios of the new minister and state minister have not been allocated immediately.

A highly placed source said Ali, who served as foreign minister in Hasina’s poll-time government, would be given the same portfolio.

Prime Minister Hasina, was sworn in on January 12 for the second consecutive term after the general elections held on January 5 that were boycotted by the opposition parties, yesterday hinted that she might not order fresh parliamentary elections as suggested by Western powers like the US and the European Union.

She gave the broad hint when she said her government is determined to take forward the country facing all odds, including the political trouble.

“Political disturbance has become a common phenomenon in the country; we have to continue our work facing this trouble. We’re doing our jobs keeping this challenge in our mind…we’re surely doing that,” she said, again hinting that she might complete her full term till 2019.

The Western powers also called for dialogue between the ruling Awami League and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party for evolving an acceptable formula for holding fresh parliamentary polls.

Several senior ministers including ruling Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam have time and again said the government elected through the January 5 poll will remain in power for full five years.

The prime minister’s remarks came while she was holding talks with a delegation of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) at her office.

SEC chairman M Khairul Hossain led the delegation.

Hasina said that the last three months of the last year were very bad for the country’s economy. “We passed a very bad time from October to December last year. We’re working hard to get ourselves out from that bad patch,” she said.

The prime minister said after assuming office this time her government engaged its all-out efforts for the welfare of the economic development of Bangladesh. “Due to our steps, we’re expecting that we’ll surely be able to maintain the targeted GDP growth,” she said.

The SEC delegation apprised the prime minister about the recognition of International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) to the SEC by upgrading it to Grade-A category from Grade-B in December last.

She said the recognition of IOSCO paved the way for further boosting foreign investment in Bangladesh as well as boosting the self-confidence of the SEC about its functional capability.

In this regard, she mentioned that her government did not turn back from taking some strong decisions for the welfare of the nation that played a very important role in achieving recognition of IOSCO.

Hasina expressed optimism that her government would be able to establish Bangladesh as a developed country earlier than 2041 which her party announced in its last election manifesto.