Tarique Rahman Sworn In as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Following BNP Election Victory

Tarique Rahman has been sworn in as Bangladesh’s new prime minister after his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won last week’s parliamentary elections. The 60-year-old, eldest son of former leaders Khaleda Zia and Ziaur Rahman, returns after 17 years in self-imposed exile. His government faces challenges including restoring political stability, reviving the economy, and rebuilding key industries, while the banned Awami League serves as a critic from exile.

Tarique Rahman has been sworn in as the new prime minister of Bangladesh following his Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) decisive victory in last week’s parliamentary elections. The 60-year-old politician, the eldest son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and the late President Ziaur Rahman, will serve a five-year term. The oath of office was administered by President Mohammed Shahabuddin, and dozens of Cabinet members and other officials of the new government were also sworn in during the ceremony outside the parliament building. During the ceremony, Rahman pledged, “I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of prime minister of the government, in accordance with the law.”
Rahman’s assumption of office marks the end of an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, which oversaw a largely peaceful election process that was widely accepted by international observers. Earlier, lawmakers had been sworn in to Parliament by the Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, pledging loyalty to the nation. Subsequently, members of the BNP formally chose Rahman as their parliamentary leader.
The new government faces significant challenges, including restoring political stability, rebuilding investor confidence, and reviving key industries such as the garment sector, which was severely affected by the unrest that followed the Gen Z-led uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government in 2024. The BNP-led alliance secured 212 seats in the 350-member Parliament, while the 11-party opposition coalition led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party won 77 seats. Rahman, in his victory speech, emphasized, “This victory belongs to Bangladesh, belongs to democracy. This victory belongs to people who aspire to and have sacrificed for democracy,” and called on all political parties to remain united in a country long divided by bitter rivalry.
Rahman acknowledged the difficult situation facing the country, noting that the government was beginning its term in the context of a fragile economy left by the previous regime, weakened constitutional and statutory institutions, and a deteriorating law and order situation. Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman pledged that his party would serve as a vigilant and peaceful opposition, providing checks and balance in the political process.
Rahman’s main rival, the Bangladesh Awami League, led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was barred from participating in the elections. From exile in India, Hasina criticized the vote as unfair to her party. A Bangladeshi court sentenced Hasina to death for crimes against humanity linked to the Gen Z uprising, which saw hundreds of deaths.
Bangladesh’s electoral system involves direct election of 300 members of Parliament, with the remaining 50 seats reserved for women and distributed proportionately among parties. Rahman, as the eldest son of Khaleda Zia and Ziaur Rahman, carries the political legacy of the BNP’s founding family. Ziaur Rahman, the founder of the party, was assassinated during a military coup in 1981, prompting Khaleda Zia to enter politics and first assume power in 1991.
Rahman has been the BNP’s acting chairman since his mother’s imprisonment in 2018. He returned to Bangladesh in December after more than 17 years in self-imposed exile following mass protests in 2024 that toppled Hasina’s government. During his exile, he lived in London, where he moved in 2008 for medical treatment and remained while facing multiple criminal cases in Bangladesh, including convictions in absentia related to an alleged plot to assassinate Hasina. These rulings were overturned after Hasina was removed from power in 2024, removing legal obstacles to his return and paving the way for his election as prime minister.