37-Member council of ministers: Nearly half of them businesspeople
Businesspeople continue to dominate the council of ministers as almost half of its new members are involved in business, according to their affidavits submitted to the Election Commission.
As many as 16 of the 37 members of the new council of ministers are businesspeople. Seven of them mentioned farming as their other profession.
Five other ministers and a state minister are lawyers while two ministers and a state minister are farmers.
In the previous council of ministers, 22 of the 48 members owned businesses while in the council formed in 2014, 21 of the 57 were businesspeople.
Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said, "Implications of business dominance is much more than their sheer number in the cabinet; it is their individual and collective business interests backed by the enormous lobby power of the 65 percent of the members of parliament."
Their overwhelming collective leverage in a monopolised political and governance space with near absence of checks and balances, especially where state institutions of accountability are deeply politicised and nearly dysfunctional, bears the obvious risk of government decisions being driven more by business interest than that of the common people, he told The Daily Star.
"The only hope, which may turn out to be wishful thinking, is that some of those who matter may from time to time consider rising above parochialism and exercise the monopolistic power with some degree of benevolence," he added.
The new council members who mentioned business as their occupation are Tazul Islam, minister for local government and rural development; Hasan Mahmud, minister for foreign affairs; Ahsanul Islam Titu, state minister for commerce; Abdur Rahman, minister for fisheries and livestock; Abdus Salam, minister for planning; Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury, state minister for expatriates' welfare; Zillul Hakim, minister for railway; Simeen Hussain Rimi, state minister for women and children affairs; and Mohibur Rahman, state minister for disaster management and relief.
Those who mentioned business as well as farming are Agriculture Minister Abdus Shahid, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumdar, Housing and Public Works Minister Ubaidul Muktadir Chowdhury, State Minister for CHT Affairs Kujendra Lal Tripura, State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid, Land Minister Narayan Chandra, and Public Administration Minister Forhad Hossain.
Those who mentioned farming as their only profession are Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, and State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury.
Those who are in the legal profession are Law Minister Anisul Huq, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Social Welfare Minister Dipu Moni, Environment and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury, and State Minister for Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak.
At least three council members are former officials of the armed forces. There are several doctors, former bureaucrats, teachers, a journalist, and a diplomat.
Fifteen members of the council are from Dhaka division, nine from Chattogram, three from Sylhet, and two each from Barishal, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions.
Asked whether the size of the cabinet will increase, Nooh-Ul-Alam Lenin, advisory council member of the ruling Awami League, said, "It is for the prime minister to decide. I think some members will be added."