The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has finalised a shadow cabinet, led by party amir Shafiqur Rahman, and is expected to announce it in June.
The party also planned to place an alternative budget proposal after the government unveils the national budget for the 2026–27 financial year in the Jatiya Sangsad.
After the Bangladesh Nationalist Party formed the government following its win in the 13th JS polls, opposition leader Shafiqur Rahman announced that it would form a shadow cabinet, especially to act as a parliamentary watchdog and present alternative policy proposals.
Jamaat leaders said that the party had initially designed 20 teams to cover all the ministries while the shadow cabinet would place an alternative budget as its first activity.
A Jamaat leader told New Age on Sunday that the shadow cabinet had somewhat been finalised, adding that opposition allies in the JS, including the National Citizen Party, remained outside the purview of the shadow cabinet.
The leader said that the announcement in this regard would come sometime after Eid-ul-Azha in June once all preparations were completed.
The shadow cabinet, he said, would include Jamaat lawmakers, top party leaders and experts from different sectors.
There would be a team leader for each ministry while every team would consist of three to five members, he said.
‘The top leader will be the Jamaat amir, while each ministry-based unit will have a chief who will carry out the main executive responsibility,’ the Jamaat leader also said.
He further said that all ministry-based teams might not be announced at once as some related or similar ministries could be grouped together under one team.
According to another Jamaat leader, the shadow cabinet could be announced during the second JS session, the budget session, scheduled to begin on June 7.
He also said that the shadow cabinet would present an alternative budget and place proposals on the national budget.
Jamaat assistant secretary general AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad said that the shadow cabinet was intended to ensure accountability and raise public awareness.
It would assess, he further said, government performances by highlighting both achievements and shortcomings.
Azad said that the initiative aimed to bridge the gap between expectations and outcomes while serving the public interest with due diligence.
Meanwhile, the ruling BNP has been repeatedly welcoming an opposition initiative to form a shadow cabinet both inside and outside the Jatiya Sangsad.
Home minister Salahuddin Ahmed on April 30 told the Jatiya Sangsad that he was pleased to learn that the opposition had formed a shadow ministry.
He said that forming a shadow cabinet had two benefits: it increased the sense of responsibility and also gave opposition members the feeling of being in ministerial offices.
‘I congratulate them. Please declare your shadow cabinet. As counterparts, we would exchange information, maintain communication and talk to each other,’ Salahuddin said.
