Ali Riaz made Special Assistant to CA

Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus on Thursday (13 November 2025) appointed Professor Ali Riaz as his Special Assistant. This post is equivalent to a full-fledged minister.

The Cabinet Division issued a gazette notification in this regard yesterday.

Professor Ali Riaz will hold the status of an Adviser and will be getting salaries, allowances and other benefits in accordance with his official status. He earlier on held the Vice Chairman post in the National Consensus Commission and headed the Bangladesh Constitutional Reform Commission which was formed by Bangladesh interim government after taking oath on 8 August 2024. It may be added that the immediate past ruling party Awami League was ousted from power on 5 August 2024 through a student-led mass uprising last year.

Professor Ali Riaz is a noted academic scholar on governance studies and political science. He has been a distinguished faculty member in Illinois State University in the United States of America for longer than two decades. He has authored a broad range of research papers and books on the political terrain in Bangladesh and major South Asian geopolitical phenomena.

However, questions and confabulations have already sprung up about Ali Riaz's foreign citizenship. Bangladesh Constitution makes it mandatory that individuals with foreign citizenship cannot hold minister positions or Member of Parliament (MP) echelons in the country.

Professor Anu Muhammad, Jahangirnagar University said that Ali Riaz was appointed just several hours ago. For this reason it's better to wait to see whether the Bangladesh interim government puts forward any elaboration about Ali Riaz's citizenship point, Anu Muhammad further said.

Prominent legal expert Dr. Shah Deen Malik said that everyone expects the interim government to comply with the statutory laws and rules that Bangladesh Constitution upholds. He expressed hope that the interim government will abstain from generating debates on appointments of higher officials in state organs.