‘BNP welcomes 11-party bloc’s shadow cabinet decision’

Staff Reporter :

BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed said the party supports the opposition’s move to constitute a shadow cabinet.

He made the remarks to journalists in front of the BNP’s Gulshan office on Monday.

Salahuddin Ahmed said the Election Commission has the mandate to conduct parliamentary and presidential elections. In the absence of a Speaker and Deputy Speaker, the Chief Election Commissioner can administer the oath to members of parliament. Accordingly, the CEC will administer the oath to MPs tomorrow, he said.

Referring to the proposed Constitutional Reform Council, he said the existing Constitution does not grant the CEC the authority to administer the oath to such a body. If the Constitution incorporates provisions for it, is amended accordingly, and specifies who will administer the oath, then the Constitutional Reform Council could be sworn in, he added.

Another BNP Standing Committee Member, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, said challenges exist across all sectors of the country. “The economy, education, healthcare — the entire system has collapsed,” he said.
He also noted that he does not yet know who will be appointed to which ministerial position.

Earlier on Sunday, the 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami announced the formation of a shadow cabinet.

The information was shared on Facebook by Mohammad Shishir Monir, a Supreme Court lawyer and Jamaat candidate who lost the election from Sunamganj-2 (Dirai-Shalla).

At the same time, NCP leader Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan and newly elected MP from Dhaka-14 and Jamaat leader Mir Ahmad Bin Kasem also mentioned the formation of the shadow cabinet in their Facebook posts.