DHAKA, Dec 12: The president and chief adviser to the caretaker government, Iajuddin Ahmed, on Tuesday inducted four advisers to the interim cabinet following the resignation of four of its members, who quit on Monday.

Before replacing the four advisers, Iajuddin Ahmed made efforts to bring back the four advisers, but in vain. The four former advisers said there was hardly any scope for them to contribute in creating a congenial atmosphere for a credible election by way of forging an effective negotiation between two rival political camps led in turn by Khaleda Zia’s BNP and Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League.

The new advisers are Mainuddin Khan, a professor of the Dhaka University, Maj-Gen (retd) Ruhul Alam Chowdhury, Shafiqul Huq Chowdhury, head of one of the largest NGOs in Bangladesh, and Shoeb Ahmed Chowdhury, a former bureaucrat.

Mr Shoeb has been made finance adviser and the other advisers are yet to be allocated portfolios. Newly-appointed adviser Shafiqul Huq Chowdhury was optimistic about resolving the political impasse for holding a credible election.