Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, former adviser and current Nationalist Party (NCP) spokesperson, has opened up about the issue amid claims by some former advisers that a ‘kitchen cabinet’ was working to take decisions in the interim government. He claimed that he was not a member of the discussed ‘Kitchen Cabinet’.
He said this at an emergency press conference organized at the temporary central office of NCP at Bangla Motor in the capital on Wednesday (May 26) afternoon.
Asif Mahmud said, “I was not a member of the information that former foreign advisor Towhid Hossain is giving about the kitchen cabinet.”
He also said that the then government did not have any discussion with the NCP regarding the trade agreement with the US. He claimed that the then National Security Adviser and current Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman concluded the agreement three days before the election on the advice of BNP.
Asif Mahmud said, “This agreement has been done completely by the will of Tariq Rahman and BNP. Anyone can modify or cancel it if they want. Many countries in the world have canceled the agreement with the United States.”
He also criticized the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) election in the press conference. Asif Mahmud said, “In this year’s BCB elections, no one has become a councilor on his own merit. Everyone has come on the basis of family identity. During the interim government, councilors were made on the basis of merit. Now sports have been familialized.”
