Four key advisers to Bangladesh's army-backed interim government resigned on Tuesday, but it was not immediately clear why they were leaving. A government spokesman confirmed reports of the departure of the four, whose rank is equivalent to cabinet ministers, and said new advisers were likely to be sworn in later in the day.
The four included Mainul Husein (Law and Information) and Tapan Chowdhury, who held the Food portfolio, a sensitive post at a time of soaring market prices. Earlier officials had said they were aware of major changes in the Council of Advisers (cabinet), headed by former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed, but had no clear idea why the four had stepped down so suddenly.
"We are trying to get the details," one official said. "We were summoned to the office of the chief adviser and were asked to resign," Mainul told reporters. "We followed his advice."
Education and Cultural Affairs adviser Ayub Quadri resigned in late December after two ancient statues of the Hindu god Vishnu were stolen from Dhaka airport while being sent to a Paris museum for exhibition. His post has yet to be filled.
Five members of Fakhruddin's 11-member cabinet have now left since the interim government took charge in January 2007 following months of street violence between the nation's unruly political parties.
Media had often accused Mainul of making outrageous and inconsistent comments on sensitive political topics at a time when the government says it is committed to allowing a free and fair election around the end of this year. Tapan had come in for bitter media and public criticism for saying recently that the government "had nothing to do with spiralling food prices", which have doubled in the past 12 months.