The New Nation - Internet Edition

Chittagong Correspondent

Members of Parliament (MP) elect from this region (greater Chittagong) have reportedly started knocking the doors of the Awami League big shots for wining the government portfolio.

According to the family members, all the 15 MPs elect from greater Chittagong with the grand-alliance ticket are now in Dhaka for adding strength in their strategy of appeasing the leader of the mega-alliance and the Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina and the cabinet makers.

Sources close to the cabinet makers hinted that possibility of picking any of the MPs from greater Chittagong for the initial cabinet had been bleak though chances for many of them would remain intact mainly incases of recasting of the cabinet based on the performance of the first choice.

The source further said that honesty, dedication to the Awami League politics, capability of delivering the people and individual expertise would be the basic criterion of selecting the cabinet members.

A number of MPs elect from the region hoped to have at least two ministries like shipping and commerce. They claimed that the port city had been playing significant roles in the country's trade and commerce mostly backed by the shipping.

"It won't be illogical demand if the MPs of this region ask for the ministries. We hope to lobby for this so that the country's trade and commerce be expedited," one of the MPs elect commented requesting anonymity.

On the other hand, one of the leading vernacular daily here in the port city - the Daily Azadi - in a piece published as its main story yesterday demanded necessary steps for quick implementation of the election pledges of the mega-alliance not ministry for the Chittagonian MPs.

The piece alleged that Chittagonian people had been bluffed and deprived of their deserved development over the years even when the cabinets had adequate representation from this region.

"The port city did not get adequate attention from the three democratically elected governments what it got from the caretaker government of Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed after January 11, 2006. In most cases Chittagonian ministers focused on their individual development instead of looking at the public needs," the piece alleged.

It is said that, the port city people would love to see sincere efforts from the upcoming government to address the city's long standing problems like water logging, sanitation, infrastructure backwardness, generation shortfall, entertainment, transport network and education instead of sparing ministries for the region.