All members of the current cabinet will resign in the next seven days to pave way for the formation of an all-party polls-time government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The decision came yesterday at a weekly cabinet meeting where several ministers elaborately discussed the issue with the premier.
“We have decided to tender resignation in the next seven days. The prime minister will then decide on the formation of the all-party government,” a senior minister told The Daily Star after the meeting, asking not to be named.
On Saturday, minister without portfolio Suranjit Sengupta said the current ministers would soon resign to facilitate the formation of an all-party government.
Talking to reporters at the secretariat yesterday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said an all-party government would be formed on the premier's return from Sri Lanka on November 15.
Hasina will leave for Sri Lanka on November 14 to attend a Commonwealth summit and return home the next day, said the PM's Assistant Press Secretary Asif Kabir.
At yesterday's cabinet meeting, Hasina told her colleagues that she had invited the main opposition BNP to send names of its lawmakers for inclusion in the interim cabinet and the ministries it wants.
Hasina, also president of the ruling Awami League, told them that she was confident that the BNP would take part in the next election, and asked them to prepare for the polls.
However, speaking at a press briefing at party's Nayapaltan office yesterday, acting BNP secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir reiterated that the BNP wouldn't join the all-party polls-time government as proposed by Hasina.
Advising her cabinet colleagues to be cautious, the prime minister said the ruling party lawmakers might face many odds ahead of the polls.
“She asked us to stay alert and tackle any odd situation calmly,” another minister told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.
Senior ministers, including Muhith, Syed Ashraful Islam, Matia Chowdhury, MK Alamgir, Shafique Ahmed and Latif Siddique took part in the discussion, added the cabinet member.
INTERIM CABINET
The size of the interim cabinet would depend on whether the BNP joins it or not, said several ministers.
Senior AL leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Matia Chowdhury, Syed Ashraful Islam and Obaidul Quader, among others, are likely to be included in the polls-time cabinet, they said.
Amu and Tofail don't hold any portfolio now.
Apart from incumbent Commerce Minister GM Quader, one or two Jatiya Party lawmakers might be inducted into the interim government, according to sources.
Workers' Party President Rashed Khan Menon, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu, Liberal Democratic Party Chairman Oli Ahmed and Bangladesh Jatiya Party Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho might also make it to the election-time cabinet.