The four technocrat ministers, who have resigned as part of a process to reconstitute the cabinet ahead of the parliamentary election, are still continuing their official work, following a directive from the prime minister, reports bdnews24.com.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed the four ministers to continue their office after Religious Affairs Minister Matior Rahman went to meet her on Wednesday, said an official in the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
"He went to meet the prime minister removing the flag in his car on Wednesday and informed her that he submitted his resignation letter following the Cabinet Division's directive over phone on Tuesday."
Hasina expressed her dissatisfaction and said the resignation letter was supposed to be submitted to her, the official said.
"Continue to run your office," the official cited the prime minister as saying.
"Four of us are still on," wrote Telecom Minister Mustafa Jabbar in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
"Submitting the resignation letter doesn't mean resigning from the post. The prime minister is yet to accept the letter, meaning the ministers should continue to work," he said in a reply to bdnews24.com.
The news agency asked the technocrat minister if the prime minister issued any directive.
"The administration will look into the issue; they said we have to submit the resignations according to the PM's directive. But she is yet to accept the resignation letters and we should continue our office naturally. Therefore, we're following the regular system," Jabbar said.
Two other technocrats -- Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam and Science and Technology Minister Yeafesh Osman -- submitted their resignation letters to the Cabinet Division on Tuesday, prior to the announcement of the schedule of the 11th national election.
The ICT Division invited reporters on Wednesday to an event to be attended Mustafa Jabbar, after he received the PM's directive to continue his office.
The invitation letter said the minister would be present as the chief guest in a seminar on 'developing software for the disabled' on Thursday.
"We believe many issues depend on the outcome of the dialogue between the political alliances, parties and the prime minister. The ministers can continue their offices until the Cabinet Division issues a new order to cease their duty following the directive from the Prime Minister," a Cabinet Division official told bdnews24.com, asking not to be named.
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