Sheikh Hasina takes oath as Bangladesh PM for third consecutive term
Dhaka, Jan 7: Sheikh Hasina was sworn in as Bangladesh's prime minister for a record fourth term on Monday after her Awami League's landslide victory in the recent elections that was marred by deadly violence and allegations of vote rigging.
President Md Abdul Hamid administered the oath of office to 71-year-old Hasina at the Bangabhaban for a record third consecutive term. Hasina was first elected prime minister in 1996 and then again in 2008 and 2014.
The president then administered the oaths for the new ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers who will form the Cabinet.
Hasina will lead a Cabinet of 24 ministers, 19 ministers of state and three state ministers. Her Cabinet is mostly made up of new faces. Thirty-one members of the new Cabinet are first-timers.
Several veterans were dropped from the council of ministers amid speculation about the inductions as major portfolios like defence were retained by Hasina herself.
The new ministers include Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal (Home Affairs), Mohammad Hasan Mahmud (Information), AHM Mustafa Kamal (Finance), Dipu Moni (Education) and AK Abdul Momen (Foreign Affairs).
Hasina, who had included representatives from the Awami League's allied parties in the previous cabinets, has not picked any of them in her new cabinet.
Instead, the new cabinet exclusively consists of members of the Awami League.
The Jatiya Party, a key partner in the Awami League-led Grand Alliance of Hasina, has decided to occupy the opposition benches in Parliament after the main opposition BNP led by ex-premier Khaleda Zia rejected the results of the general election.
Hasina, the president of the Awami League, won the 11th parliamentary elections with a landslide victory even as the Opposition rejected the "farcical" polls marred by violence that claimed 17 lives, making it one of the deadliest polls in the country's history.
Her ruling Grand Alliance won 96 per cent of the seats contested in the election. Hasina and her alliance have dismissed the accusations of vote rigging.
Hasina was pitted against a united opposition Jatiya Oikya Front (United National Front) led by octogenarian Kamal Hossain, an Oxford-educated jurist and former foreign minister. Her arch-rival and jailed ex-premier chief Zia, who has been serving a 17-year sentence for corruption, was barred from contesting the polls.
On Thursday, she was chosen as the leader of the House for the fourth time.
Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is termed by many as the country's iron lady.
She has been praised by her supporters for cracking down on Islamist extremists after five homegrown terrorists stormed a Dhaka cafe in 2016, killing 20 hostages, including one Indian.
She also launched trials of the powerful Islamist opposition over crimes committed during the 1971 independence war.
Her critics, however, accuse her of crushing the opposition and creating a one-party dominant political system in Bangladesh.
The Western nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have cautiously welcomed Hasina's victory but called for a probe into "credible reports" of irregularities, harassment, intimidation and violence.
"There are worrying indications that reprisals have continued to take place, notably against the political opposition, including physical attacks and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests, harassment, disappearances and filing of criminal cases," the UN said in a statement recently.
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No confusion in BJP-JD(S) alliance: Kumaraswamy
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday dismissed speculation over confusion in the BJP-JD(S) alliance, asserting that there was clarity within them and that discussions on the chief minister post were premature.
Addressing reporters at the party's state office, JP Bhavan, after chairing a preparatory meeting for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections, he said the immediate priority was to remove what he termed an "anti-people government" in the state and to strengthen the alliance to face upcoming polls.
"This is not the time to discuss who should become the chief minister. There is still time for that. If we speak about it now, it would be like stitching the cradle even before the baby is born," Kumaraswamy said, underlining that leadership questions would be taken up at an appropriate time.
The JD(S) second-in-command said there is still a lot of work to be done and it was not appropriate to speak about such matters now.
"On the issue of alliance, both I and our party are open-minded. When the time comes, we will discuss it on the party platform and take a decision. There is no confusion regarding the alliance, and there will be no confusion in the future. This is my stand," Kumaraswamy said.
"There is a bad government in the state. My objective is to remove it and bring in a pro-people government. Removing this corrupt and bad government is my agenda. The JD(S) and BJP parties will work together to accomplish this task," he added.
Reiterating his stand, Kumaraswamy said, "My objective is to remove the anti-people government in the state. I have been saying this from the beginning."
On reports of internal differences over the alliance and the CM's position, the union minister said he would not respond to every statement made by individuals.
"Some people are speaking about the alliance and the chief minister's position. I do not feel the need to respond to them. If I start answering each of them, people may think I lack maturity. Therefore, I will not speak about it. We will strengthen the alliance together, face the elections together, and bring a pro-people government," he said.
Kumaraswamy added that discussions within parties were natural and not final.
He said there were still two years left for the Assembly elections while there were four to five months left for the local body elections.
The union minister said the JD(S) is also preparing for the municipal elections in Bengaluru city just as other parties.
He clarified that there had been no discussions so far between the two parties specifically on local body or GBA elections.
Earlier, the JD(S) leader chaired a meeting with Members of the Legislative Council, former MLAs and other leaders of his party to review preparations for the GBA elections.
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