Hasina takes oath today as longest serving PM

Zarif Mahmud : Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,along with her cabinet members, is going to take the oath of office as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister today (Thursday) for her historic fifth term and fourth consecutive term.
The new cabinet led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be sworn in at Bangabhaban in Dhaka on this evening. President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath to the new cabinet members.
With this, Sheikh Hasina, the elder daughter of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and president of Awami League, is going to be the longest serving premier in the history of Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, President Mohammed Shahabuddin has invited Sheikh Hasina to form the government as she has gained the confidence of the majority of the members of the Parliament.
The invitation came after she went to meet him at the Bangabhaban on Wednesday afternoon, said Press Secretary to the president Joynal Abedin.
On her arrival at Bangabhaban in the afternoon, President Shahabuddin welcomed the premier with a bouquet.
The press secretary told media that during the meeting, President Shahabuddin conveyed his sincere greetings and warm congratulations to Sheikh Hasina for having absolute victory in the 12th national elections.
He said that this victory is a reflection of public opinion to continue the trend of democracy and development of the country.
The head of the state said that through this election, the people have given a verdict in favour of independence, the spirit of liberation war, development and progress.
President Shahabuddin hoped that under the leadership of premier Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh will become a smart Bangladesh as well as the golden Bengal of Bangabandhu’s dream.
Alongside, President Shahabuddin wished the prime minister all success.
During the meeting, the prime minister expressed her gratitude to the people of the country for giving Awami League a landslide victory in the national elections.
According to a gazette notification published by the Election Commission on Tuesday, the ruling AL won 222 out of 298 seats in the polls conducted on Sunday, more than enough for her party to form a straight fourth five-year term government since January 2009 after running the country from 1996-2001.
The result showed that independent candidates won 62 seats while the Jatiya Party bagged 11 seats and other AL allies got two seats.
Apart from this, another political group the Bangladesh Kalyan Party secured one seat.
Voter turnout was recorded at 41.8 per cent.
Sunday’s national elections were held amid mass violence and arrests of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders and supporters.
The BNP boycotted the polls after the AL rejected their demands for an independent caretaker government to ensure holding the elections and a free, fair and neutral manner.
The opposition party had also called on people to not cast their votes.
According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), nearly 10,000 activists were arrested after an opposition rally on October 28, 2023 turned violent, resulting in the deaths of at least 16 people and injuring more than 5,500, reports the BBC.
It accused the government of “filling prisons with the ruling AL’s political opponents”. The AL has however, denied these accusations.