Awami League President Sheikh Hasina took oath as the prime minister for the fourth consecutive term and formed government with 37 ministers yesterday.

This is her fifth stint as the PM.

The 76-year-old daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is already the longest serving prime minister of the country.

She became the prime minister for the first time in 1996. She returned to power in 2009 and has won three consecutive elections since then.

Her new cabinet has to hit the ground running given the pent-up issues that are threatening to blow up. From economy to geopolitics, labour dissatisfaction to declining investor confidence, impending LDC graduation to strained public finances -- challenges are in every corner.

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AL helps itself to fourth straight win

President Mohammed Shahabuddin yesterday administered the oath of office and oath of secrecy to Hasina and her new council of ministers -- 25 ministers and 11 state ministers -- at the Bangabhaban Darbar Hall. Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain conducted the ceremony.

The Jatiya Sangsad speaker, the chief justice, the chief election commissioner, Supreme Court judges, MPs, political leaders, chiefs of the three services, journalists, and top civil and military officials were present at the event.

President's wife Rebecca Sultana and PM's sister Sheikh Rehana were there.

US Ambassador Peter Haas, Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma, Chinese Ambassador Yao Wen, Russian Ambassador Alexander Mantytskiy, British High Commissioner Sarah Cooke and French Ambassador Marie Masdupuy were also present.

The ceremony was held a day after the Awami League Parliamentary Party unanimously elected Hasina as its leader, paving the way for her to be the PM.

After the swearing-in was over, Hasina, wearing a white saree and blue shawl, signed the oath of office and oath of secrecy.

Immediately after the cabinet members took oath, the cabinet division issued a gazette notification mentioning the portfolios.

The PM keeps the defence, power, cultural affairs, and labour ministries as well as the cabinet and armed forces divisions for herself.

Former foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali is the new finance minister, replacing AHM Mustafa Kamal.

Previously, he was appointed as a minister for a year in the 9th parliament. He remained a minister through the full term of the 10th parliament.

Mohammed Hasan Mahmud, who served as the information minister in the immediate past cabinet, replaces AK Abdul Momen as the foreign minister.

In January 2009, Hasan Mahmud was appointed as the state minister for foreign affairs. But six months later, he was given the portfolio of state minister for environment. In November 2011, he was made the minister for environment.

AL central committee member Mohammad Ali Arafat has been appointed as the state minister for information.

Ahsanul Islam Titu, a lawmaker from Tangail-6, is the new state minister for commerce.

Mymensingh-9 lawmaker Abdus Salam has been made the new planning minister. This is the first time he has made it to the cabinet.

Muhammad Faruk Khan, who was commerce minister from 2009 to 2011, is the new civil aviation and tourism minister.

Saber Hossain Chowdhury, a former deputy minister and president of Bangladesh Cricket Board, is the new minister for environment.

Eleven ministers of the immediate past cabinet have retained their berths in the new one. They include Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, LGRD Minister Tazul Islam, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, and Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman.

Faridul Haque Khan and Farhad Hossain are now ministers for religious affairs and public administration. Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, who was the deputy education minister, is the education minister, replacing Dipu Moni. The latter will head the social welfare ministry.

Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury, a lawmaker from Brahmanbaria-3, is the new housing and public works minister while former fisheries minister Narayan Chandra Chanda is the land minister.

AL praesidium members Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Abdur Rahman are the new textiles and fisheries ministers.

Former chief whip Abdus Shahid is replacing AL praesidium member Abdur Razzaque as the agriculture minister.

Samanta Lal Sen, who is inducted in the cabinet for the first time as a technocrat, is the new health minister.

Rajbari-2 lawmaker Zillul Hakim will be the railways minister, replacing Nurul Islam Sujan.

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan is the new sports minister.

Nasrul Hamid, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Zunaid Ahmed Palak and Zaheed Farooque will continue to be state ministers for power division, shipping, information technology, and water resources.

The other state ministers appointed yesterday are Simeen Hussain (women and children affairs), Kujendra Lal Tripura (CHT affairs), Mohibobur Rahman (disaster management), Shofiqur Rahman Choudhury (expatriates' welfare), and Rumana Ali (primary education).

Hours after the oath-taking ceremony, the PM appointed Mashiur Rahman, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Gowher Rizvi, Salman F Rahman, Kamal Abdus Naser Chowdhury, and Tarique Ahmed Siddique as advisers.

However, the circular did not contain the name of PM's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who was her ICT adviser.

In the January 7 parliamentary polls, the AL won 222 constituencies, and independents, mostly AL leaders, won 62. The Jatiyo Party bagged 11, and AL allies Bangladesh Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Bangladesh Kalyan Party won one seat each.

The PM dropped 30 members of the previous cabinet, including heavyweights like Abdur Razzaque, AHM Mustafa Kamal, AK Abdul Momen and MA Mannan and inducted 12 new faces.

Of the 30, 15 were ministers, 13 state ministers and two deputy ministers. Besides, she dropped three technocrat ministers who resigned in November.

The absence of healthy democratic exercises often results in society tending to sideline endemic structural concerns within political parties and governance structures. The case is no different in Bangladesh. The focus of analysis tends to be on the leadership due to the top-down nature of how the two major parties have established themselves as dominant electoral machines over the past four decades. Yet, it is equally important to perhaps take a deeper look at the demographic composition of those holding top political posts across these organisations. At the end of the day, politicians and parliamentary representatives frame public policies, which shape the lives of the future generation. And without understanding and critiquing what perspectives they represent, it is impossible to cultivate a state-society relationship that moulds inclusive, pro-people and needs-based policymaking.

Let's dive into some numbers for context. The presidium body of the Awami League is the highest policymaking body of the ruling party; merely three of the 17 active presidium members are aged under 70 years. On the other side of the aisle, the Standing Committee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – which apparently acts as the de facto collective leadership-based decision-making body in the absence of the ailing and judicially convicted party chief Khaleda Zia – does not have a single member who is aged under 70. Therefore the most prominent policymakers of the two major political parties comprise senior citizens representing the war-time generation. And while our debt to them remains absolute and timeless, how can we solely expect a generation that represents a minority in the context of a younger demographic, which is characteristic of the majority population in Bangladesh, to respond to the wills and wishes of this generation?

Every major demographic indicator suggests that Bangladesh has an extremely young population. About 18.56 percent of its citizens fall in the 15-24 age group. A whopping 40.72 percent of the population fall in the 25-54 age group. Whereas a mere 6.82 percent of the population is aged 65 and above. And yet, it is this specific demographic of senior citizens that is representative of the status quo when it comes to policymaking and political leadership in the country. The average age of the national parliament elected in 2018 is 59.48 years, as per data provided by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), with only 10.57 percent of MPs aged 45 and under. As harsh as this may sound, political veterans of the yesteryears continue having undisputed authority in governing and framing the future of the nation.

If a single generation of like-minded individuals cultivate and narrate the future of an entire nation, then we will remain at an impasse; the lack of demographic diversity is deeply concerning. However, the one core foundational aptitude of the older generation of political leaders who continue being in leadership roles today stems from their experience and expertise in grassroots politics. From the 1970s to the 2000s, this particular segment of political leadership who stood by Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia developed themselves into astute and capable political actors based on their experience in student politics and activism-based undertakings. Nevertheless, the politics of the 21st century is widely different; more policy and less politics is perhaps the demand of time. More so than street movements or traditional picketing, politics has shifted towards outreach across social media and a general need to portray party politics as vehicles of transformational policy changes, rather than being mere partisan ideological forces. Therefore, with an ageing political leadership and a growing youth population, this decade may very well represent a crucial and critical transition point in Bangladesh's history – the passing of the political baton from the war-time generation of leaders to those whose focus must be on peace, unity, accountability, democracy, social development, and human rights.

This brings with it a unique opportunity to induct fresher and intellectually competent faces from a diverse range of professions and grassroots systems into the political landscape. But when it comes to diversity of professional backgrounds in politics, the data is even more concerning. The current parliament, for example, boasts an enormous 61 percent of businesspersons as elected MPs. The increasing dominance of business elites indicates the power of wealth in defining political decisions in the country, with over 82 percent of MPs registered formally as kotipoti (millionaires), according to SHUJAN. Therefore, while there is an immediate need to bring forth the younger generation into positions of political influence and authority – particularly within the internal ranks of the two major parties – it is equally important for individuals outside the purview of entrepreneurship to be provided with the opportunity to be active political actors.

The older generation of political leaders were traditionally backed by business elites. From general elections to party funding mechanisms, there is no doubt that money has historically played a pivotal role in ensuring the sustenance of the two-party system in Bangladesh. However, today we are witnessing the direct integration of entrepreneurial interests into the political landscape and parliamentary politics. And the motive of enhancing financial capital, while sidelining concerns regarding conflicts of interests by using politics as an uninterrupted money-making vehicle, could not be clearer to the naked eye.

In summary, demographic indicators and political data suggest that Bangladesh is at a unique crossroads when it comes to a political system developed under the leadership of the war-time generation. On the one hand, our two major parties and parliament fail to represent the modern demography of Bangladesh; add to this the business elites who exclusively dominate the political system. On the other hand, given that the sun is setting on the careers of the war-time generation of political leaders, the nation has the opportunity to induct a new generation of fresher, competent and more relatable leaders into the political landscape. The principal challenge of institutionalising democratic exercises and the practice of free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections remains absolute as well.

Therefore, keeping these concerns in mind, it is time to ensure demographic and occupational diversity across our political system. And this can only be done with the active decision of the veteran generation to slowly but surely start grooming and handing the reins to a new generation of competent political leaders.

Mir Aftabuddin Ahmed is a banking professional based in Toronto, Canada.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today (September 8, 2022) slammed the Indian government for not inviting her to be a part of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's India visit.

Mamata also said she was curious to know why Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government was "worried" about her meeting foreign dignitaries, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

"I share an excellent relationship with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, but [the government] did not invite me to be a part of her visit," she said while addressing a special session of her party Trinamool Congress at the Netaji Subhash Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.

"I don't want to talk about external affairs or bilateral ties. But I have noticed that the Centre tries to stop me whenever I am invited to any foreign country. I want to know why is the union government so worried about me meeting foreign dignitaries," Mamata said.

Hasina, who wrapped her four-day state visit to India today, had during an interaction with the media at the Bangladesh high commission in New Delhi on September 6, said Mamata was like her sister and expressed disappointment over not being able to meet the West Bengal chief minister in Delhi.

In July this year, Hasina had written a letter to Mamata expressing her interest to meet the chief minister during her September visit to Delhi.

On the other hand, a senior official of the Indian government stated that the central government does not invite chief ministers for such events.

"Sometimes, chief ministers are invited for state banquets or some other ceremonial events but there was no such occasion during the visit of Hasina this time," the official pointed out.

"In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in fact invited [West Bengal] Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to Bangladesh where a ceremonial event was held for flagging-off a bus service between the two countries," the official recalled.