4 technocrat ministers quit
President accepts resignations
Special Correspondent, Dhaka
Thirty two days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked four technocrat ministers to resign, religious affairs minister Motiur Rahman, expatriates welfare and overseas employment minister Nurul Islam, science and technology minister Yeafesh Osman and telecom and IT minister Mustafa Jabbar finally stepped down from their posts yesterday.
A notification issued by the cabinet division said the resignation letters of the four ministers have been accepted by the President. As per the existing laws, the portfolios of the four ministers will go to the Prime Minister.
At a cabinet meeting on November 6, Hasina had asked the ministers to resign. The following day, they had tendered their resignation letters to the premier through the cabinet division.
On December 8, Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader had said there will be no technocrat minister in the cabinet from December 9 as part of the process to reconstitute the cabinet ahead of the next parliamentary polls.
The cabinet has a total of 30 ministers, 17 state ministers and two deputy ministers under Hasina. The last cabinet meeting of the Awami League-led Grand alliance government was held on December 3.
