Take six in cabinet from Sylhet division

Moulvibazar political leaders urge Hasina

4 January 2009, 18:00 PM

Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar

Political activists as well as common people in Moulvibazar district want six to seven persons from Sylhet division in the cabinet of the new government as honour to the people who 'gifted' all the 19 seats in the region to Awami League (AL)-led grand alliance. Seventeen of the newly elected lawmakers are AL leaders while the rest two are from Jatiya Party (JP). As this correspondent talked to several people in Moulvibazar, they said they want Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, lawmaker elected from Sylhet-1 constituency, as finance minister in the new cabinet. People of Moulvibazar Sadar and Rajnagar upazila (Moulvibazar-3 constituency) want cabinet membership for AL leader Syed Mohsin Ali as he defeated former finance minister Saifur Rahman with a margin of 32,026 votes. People also want Vice-Principal MA Shahid, newly elected lawmaker from Moulvibazar-4 and former chief whip of the opposition, in the cabinet. Shahid has been elected from the seat for the fourth time. Locals consider AL's central Organising Secretary Sultan Md Monsur Ahmed as deserving to be included in the cabinet. Monsur was not given nomination this time as grand alliance ticket for his earlier seat Moulvibazar-2 was given to a JP leader. People of Kulaura upazila want to see Monsur as a member in the cabinet under technocrat quota. Dewan Farid Gazi of Habiganj and Suranjit Sengupta of Sunamganj and Nurul Islam Nahid of Sylhet district are among other newly elected lawmakers who are looked upon by local people as 'competent' for inclusion in the cabinet. “We hope party chief Sheikh Hasina would consider the matter concerning sentiment of the electorate", Abul Mal Abdul Muhith, Dewan Farid Gazi and Suranjit Sengupta have countrywide reputation. They have ministerial experiences as well. So they can serve the nation well if they become minister again,” Nesar Ahmed, general secretary of Moulvibazar district AL, said.