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The new cabinet

Habibul Haque Khondker
I hate to quote people I do not particularly admire. But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has put me into a situation when I have to do exactly that So I will quote Mt Donald Rumsfeld, former US SecretaryofState: "There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know." This is how I feel about Sheikh Hasina's new cabinet line up.
There are only few known knowns: Ms. Matia Chowdhury has a proven track record. She stood out for her honesty, dedication, and single-mindedness. 1 first met Mr.AMA Muhitmanyyearsago.asasmall boy in a small town. He was Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) who had named the primary
school, "SishuBidyabag," which I attended.
Mr. Muhit has the experience of serving as a finance minister in President Ershad s cabinet. More importantly, he was one of the organisers of Mukti juddho (war of liberation) in the USA, where he defected from the Pakistan Embassy. Dr. Yunus at that time also took part in the liberation war effort.
Then there is Air Vice Marshal (Rtd) A.K Khandker, Bir Uttom. a war hero, a man who commands respect from people across the spectrums. There is no doubt the known knowns will do a fine job. They are Honest and respectable people.
The known unknowns are the new faces who have the advantage of being untainted. Lack of experience is not always a bad thing. If one is clever she will learn the rope tricks quickly.
Let's take Dr. Dipu Moni. She has back-
ground in medicine and law, a rare combination. She has a Master degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins. Her intelligence and sincerity are above doubts. Prime Minister Hasina has taken a bold decision in making her the first woman foreign minister in South Asia, and one of the few in Asia.
In Japan, Koizumi appointed Ms. Makiko Tanaka, daughter of former Prime Minister Tanaka, as the first female foreign minister in Japan’s history -- but many Japanese thought she would not survive in the men’s world.
When Dr. Madeline Albright was made the first female Secretary of State in the United States very few were surprised. Before becoming the Secretary of State, Dr. Albright was US's ambassador to the United Nations.
When Dr. Condoleezza Rice was brought in from Stanford University it did not raise any eyebrows. The new Bangladesh foreign minister will find a kindred soul in her US counterpart, Ms. Hillary Clinton - both have degrees in law.
Engineer Khandaker Moshrarraf Hossain, the new minister in charge of labor, brings years of experience with International Labour Organisation, so he
will be able to use his international experience to the national context. As a minister in charge of expatriates, he will also be able to make use of his own expatriate experience. The cabinet has other engineer, Mr. G.M. Qader and an architect.
Education, experience, commitment are useful ingredients that make a good leader. But in the end, leadership is not just about education, or experience. If one has the determination, no task is too difficult.
There may be some unknown unknowns that we know very little about. We will find out about their abilities as time goes on. Prime Minister Hasina has shown her leadership in exercising her independent judgment. It is a gamble, which will make her administration successful or fumble. What is important to remember is that the prime minister has the authority to appoint, she also has the discretion to replace.
The question is: Are the unknown unknowns sincere, honest, intelligent, and committed? We will find out soon. What the new cabinet needs is support and helpful suggestions. They have huge task ahead. Let's wish them all the best.
Dr. Habibul Haque Khondker is a professor of sociology at Zayed University, UAE.
***The question is: Are the unknown unknowns sincere, honest, intelligent, and committed? We will find out soon. What the new cabinet needs is support and helpful suggestions. They have huge task ahead. Let’s wish them all the best.***