Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will commute using his personal vehicle, instead of a government car.

BNP Media Cell member Atiqur Rahman Rumon disclosed the information on Wednesday.

He said the prime minister will use his own car, his own driver and fuel purchased at his own expense, and will not use any official vehicle allocated to the prime minister.

“During today’s schedule, the prime minister visited Savar and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in his own Toyota vehicle. From there, he came to the Secretariat in the same car,” Rumon said.

Considering traffic congestion, the prime minister has also ordered a reduction in the number of vehicles in his convoy. “Previously, the convoy consisted of 13 or 14 vehicles. Today, it has been reduced to four,” he added.

Following his oath-taking, the prime minister used a vehicle without the national flag on his first working day. However, Rumon said the national flag would be used on the prime minister’s vehicle during state functions or visits by foreign dignitaries.

Rumon further said that the prime minister has decided to hold cabinet meetings at the Secretariat from now on. “When cabinet meetings are held at the Prime Minister’s Office, ministers travelling from the Secretariat create traffic congestion, and VIP movement causes inconvenience to the public. Taking these issues into consideration, the prime minister has decided to hold most cabinet meetings at the Secretariat,” he said.

The prime minister has also instructed the relevant ministries to discontinue the practice of deploying uniformed police personnel along roadsides during his travel within the capital.

Earlier in the morning, the prime minister travelled from his Gulshan residence to the National Martyrs’ Memorial in Savar in his white Toyota car, where he paid tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War.

From Savar, he went to Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and placed wreaths at the graves of the late president Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Cabinet members accompanied the prime minister at both locations. He later proceeded to the Secretariat, where he attended the first meeting of the cabinet.