“Let’s go to war,” Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said with a smile as he stepped out of his residence on Sunday morning to begin the first working day of the week.

The brief but striking remark surprised officials waiting outside his Gulshan residence. Moments later, they realised he was referring to the daily struggle of running the country and tackling national challenges.

The Prime Minister left his residence at 8:42am for the Secretariat to attend meetings of the Cabinet Division, said his Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon.

As usual, personal staff and security officials were ready before his departure. When the door opened, the Prime Minister greeted them with his customary smile and made the remark.

Rumon said the Prime Minister reached the Secretariat around 9:30am.

He was scheduled to attend several meetings throughout the day, including meetings with Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon, Education Adviser Mahdi Amin and Executive Chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Board Ashik Chowdhury, among others.

Rumon said the Prime Minister been coming to office early every day and even working on holidays in an effort to bring discipline and speed to government work.

“He is also encouraging ministers, state ministers, advisers, secretaries and other officials to come to office early,” Rumon said.

He said the Prime Minister is working day and night to overcome long-standing mismanagement, irregularities and various challenges.

“The Prime Minister used the phrase ‘Let’s go to war’ to express the determination to rebuild the country and tackle its problems,” Rumon added.

He said the Prime Minister worked at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tejgaon on Saturday despite it being a public holiday and is now working from his office at the Secretariat six days a week.

The Additional Press Secretary said the Prime Minister is working from the Secretariat so that ministers, state ministers and secretaries can be called quickly whenever needed.

“When the Prime Minister works from Tejgaon, ministers or officials have to travel from the Secretariat, which often causes delays. Their movements with VIP protocol also create traffic congestion,” he said.

“General people suffer due to this. To avoid such inconvenience and speed up government work, the Prime Minister is now working from the Secretariat,” Rumon said.

Tarique Rahman took oath as Prime Minister on February 17 and came to his office at the Secretariat at 9:05am the same day.

After arriving at the office, he inquired about which ministers, state ministers and secretaries were present.