New cabinet may be formed by 15 Jan: Nasrul Hamid

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said the new cabinet may be formed by 15 January.

"I think the new cabinet will be formed by 15 January," the state minister said responding to questions from the journalists at the Secretariat on Monday.

When asked when the newly elected MPs and ministers of the new government will be sworn in, he said, "I cannot say that."

Responding to the question about who will form the opposition party, he said, "According to the constitution and election results it will be Jatiyo Party. Moreover, it is not clear in which direction the future politics will go."

When asked whether the independent candidates will be the opposition party, he said, "It is not possible to say at the moment."

Speaking about the election, the state minister said, "I was busy with the election in my area. In my area, voting went very smoothly, it can be said that except for one or two isolated incidents, voting was peaceful. The election was conducted in a very orderly, peaceful manner."

"I think the Election Commission was under a lot of pressure. There were various political issues. 40% nationwide voting is a big thing. The Election Commission has managed it in a very professional way. I thank them, they conducted the election in a very fair and strict manner by maintaining peace and order at the field level," he added.

He also congratulated those who got elected.

Answering what challenges may there be for the new government in the future, the state minister said, "The biggest challenge is to keep electricity and energy uninterrupted at the customer level. Keeping it [power and fuel] uninterrupted by keeping all the problems in mind. Keeping fuel and electricity prices affordable at the consumer level is the biggest challenge for the future. I think our ministry is ready for it."

"We should plan for the future keeping all the challenges in mind," he added.

When asked about the challenges of the power sector, he said that the biggest challenge of the power sector is to maintain supply.

Asked if the new government will raise prices again under the pressure of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nasrul Hamid said, "I have already said that it is not a matter of increasing or decreasing the price, we are moving slowly in the same way as the price of electricity is fixed at the international level."