AH Mahmood Ali and Nazrul Islam Hiru have taken oath as ministers. President Md Abdul Hamid administered them the oath of office and secrecy as the latest entrant in the cabinet on Wednesday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was also present at the oath taking ceremony at the Bangabhaban. Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan managed the oath taking ceremony. Ali, who served as Foreign Minister in the “all-party” election-time government, was accompanied by his wife Shahin Ali and younger brother Md Ali Shamim. Narsinghdi-1 MP Nazrul Islam Hira, a retired Colonel, came with his wife Farzana Nazrul. Ali took oath as a minister while Hira as a state minister. The current Cabinet, installed on Jan 12, has 29 full ministers, 17 state ministers and two deputy ministers. The announcement to expand the Cabinet comes within a month and a half of its formation. Awami League President Hasina is Prime Minister, leading the government for the third time in two decades. She had formed a 32-member Cabinet with 24 ministers and eight ministers of state after a landslide in the ninth parliamentary polls in December 2008. The Cabinet was later expanded to 50 within a month. No full ministers are currently deputed to home and foreign affairs portfolios. Mahmood Ali is widely tipped to return as the foreign minister, the portfolio which is now overseen by the Prime Minister herself. Main opposition Jatiya Party has three ministers in the Cabinet. JaSaD chief Hasanul Haq Inu and Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon are also in the Cabinet as full ministers. Head of the Jatiya Party faction, Anwar Hossain Manju also became a minister while the rest of the Cabinet has ministers from the Awami League. – bdnews24.com
