Awami League President Sheikh Hasina has taken oath as prime minister of Bangladesh for an unprecedented fourth term as well as third consecutive term.
President Abdul Hamid administered the oath to her followed by ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers at his official residence Bangabhaban in Dhaka city at 3:40 pm on Monday.
The term of the government that came to power in January 2014 has officially ended after the oath-taking ceremony.
A 47-member new cabinet led by Hasina was announced on Sunday and all of them are party fellows. Even some heavyweights were dropped from the cabinet.
Hasina’s Awami League-led Grand Alliance clinched a landslide victory in the latest general election held on December 30, paving the way for her to lead the government yet again.
For the first time, she, now at 71, became the prime minister in 1996, when Awami League, also led by her, came to power after a long span of 21 years.
In 2014, her party retained power with a landslide victory in the 10th general election boycotted by the arch rival, BNP.
Awami League, led by Hasina, also bagged more than two-thirds majority in the 2008 national election with BNP facing a crushing defeat, and she became the PM for the second term.