The Cabinet Division is busy making arrangements for swearing in the new ministers, so much so that the division is open on a weekend.
Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam came to his office on Saturday (Dec 5) along with secratries to the public administration, health and law ministries to prepare the portfolios for the oath taking of the new ministers.
No one has yet been able to confirm how many portfolios are there but speculations are rife that around 45-50 ministers will be sworn in on Monday (Jan 7).
However, reliable sources have confirmed that after a year or so, the Cabinet might be expanded to 55-60 members.
“The new Cabinet members are scheduled to take oath of their offices on Monday at 3:30pm,” Cabinet Secretary Alam told Bangla Tribune on Saturday.
“It’s the Cabinet Division’s job to arrange the ceremony, hence we are working on a weekend to get everything ready,” he added.
A team led by a Cabinet division deputy secretary went to the Bangabhaban at 11am and it’s being speculated that he is there to supervise the arrangement for the oath taking ceremony.
Awami League President Sheikh Hasina will be sworn in as the prime minister for the fourth time. She took oath as the head of the government for the first time in 1996. After that she won the 2008 polls by a wide margin and then again in 2014. This year, Hasina is set to head the government for an unprecedented consecutive third term.
Sources said the Hasina-led administration will be made up of lawmakers who have been “tried, tested and honest”.
At the same time a few elects who are young and educated with clean images might be handed the portfolio of a ministry for the first time and will represent the government and party in the future.
Moreover, loyal leaders who didn’t run for the polls this time might get a chair in the Cabinet as technocrat ministers.
All in all, the four-time prime minister is set to form a Cabinet that is skilled and specialized, according to people familiar with the matter.