Finance Minister AMA Muhith has hinted at possible further shakeup in the Cabinet after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina relieved Syed Ashraful Islam of the LGRD and cooperatives ministry.
But the senior Awami League leader says he has no idea what will happen.
“Let’s see what happens,” he said responding to a reporter’s question in Sylhet on Friday.
“I have no idea… there will be slight recast. But it’s difficult to say exactly what will happen,” the minister added.
Hasina sacked Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraf on Thursday and made him a minister without a portfolio.
Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, her daughter’s father-in-law, has replaced Ashraf, the number two in the ruling party.
“Several of us knew beforehand that Mr Ashraf’s portfolio would be changed,” Muhith said.
Ashraf has so far declined comment on the development.
Responding to a question, Awami League Advisory Council member Muhith said, “It’s up to the prime minister to make changes in the Cabinet.
“The prime minister did it (remove Ashraf), that’s it.”
Muhith said there was a proposal to make Ashraf a minister without portfolio when he was made the party’s general secretary.
“Maybe the prime minister implemented the decision after all this time,” he added.
Ashraf, son of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s close aide Syed Nazrul Islam, came to prominence during the 2007-8 emergency rule when most senior leaders, including Hasina, were incarcerated.
He was elected the party’s general secretary in 2009 and Hasina gave him charge of the politically crucial LGRD ministry.
He retained his portfolio five years later when the party returned to power.
Ashraf’s sacking is the first major change in the new Hasina-led Cabinet.
Earlier, former telecoms minister Abdul Latif Siddique was axed for his controversial comment but no-one had been given charge of the ministry.
Muhith is the first senior leader to indicate at a possible shakeup.
Awami League leaders initially did not openly comment on Ashraf’s removal but on Friday some of them said it was up to the prime minister to decide who would be in the Cabinet.
Reacting to the move, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said the general secretary might have been relieved of his ministerial duty to allow him more time for the party.
Party’s Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif said: “The party and Cabinet are separate issues. The prime minister runs the country…
“She knows best when and how to utilise someone for the country’s development.”
But he skirted a direct reply on the Cabinet shakeup.
Source: Bd news24