Sheikh Hasina was sworn in as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister for a record fourth term on Monday after her Awami League registered a landslide victory in the recent election that was marred by deadly violence and allegations of vote rigging. President Md. Abdul Hamid administered the oath of office to the 71-year-old Ms. Hasina at the Bangabhaban for a record third consecutive term.
Ms. Hasina was first elected Prime Minister in 1996 and then again in 2008 and 2014. The President then administered the oaths for the new Ministers, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers who will form the Cabinet. Ms. Hasina will lead a Cabinet of 24 Ministers, 19 Ministers of State and three State Ministers. Her Cabinet is mostly made up of new faces. Thirty-one members of the new Cabinet are first-timers. Ms. Hasina, who had included representatives from the Awami League’s allied parties in the previous cabinets, has not picked any of them in her new Cabinet.