Mohammad Sufiur Rahman has not joined office three months after his appointment as special assistant with executive power to assist the foreign affairs adviser.
Asked, Sufiur, also a former diplomat, expressed his unwillingness to disclose the reason for not joining office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the status of state minister.
鈥業 have not joined鈥 don鈥檛 like to make any comment on the matter,鈥� said Sufiur, who served as the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Office in Geneva and Bangladesh ambassador to Switzerland.
A foreign affairs cadre officer belonging to the 9th batch of Bangladesh Civil Service, he also had held different other diplomatic positions over the years.
Asked whether he was consulted beforehand and had consent to the appointment as special assistant to the chief adviser, he said that such an appointment聽 was not made by the government without the appointee鈥檚 consent.
Foreign ministry officials said that Sufiur did not go to the ministry as a section of officials was against his appointment in the post with executive power. They said that Sufiur鈥檚 appointment also was made without consultation with foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain. The officials said that the adviser, who was also a career diplomat and a former foreign secretary, did not welcome Sufiur to the post with executive power.
Asked about the matter, Touhid said Sufiur did not join office. 鈥楬e did not join. He might be given another ministry,鈥� the foreign adviser said on Thursday.
Asked whether he welcomed Sufiur鈥檚 appointment to the post, Touhid said that he himself introduced the former diplomat to the chief adviser and would not say anything more on the issue.
On April 20, chief adviser to the interim government Professor Muhammad Yunus appointed Sufiur, who retired from the government service in 2024, as special assistant with the status of the state minister for the foreign affairs ministry.
He was given the executive power of the foreign affairs ministry under the Rules of Business, 1996 to assist the adviser, according to a Cabinet Division notification.
Sufiur鈥檚 status remains the same, as per official web site of the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office, although he has not joined office still date.
Upon his retirement from his UN office role in 2024, Sufiur joined as senior research fellow at the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance at North South University in the capital Dhaka.