Tarique Rahman sworn in as new PM of Bangladesh
Five days after the Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, Tarique Rahman, chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Tuesday (February 17, 2026). The swearing-in of the new Prime Minister and his ministerial colleagues came hours after Chief Election Commissioner A.M.M Nasir Uddin administered the oath of parliament to the newly elected members of BNP in the parliament of Bangladesh – Jatiyo Sansad. As the new Prime Minister Mr. Rahman will lead a team of twenty-five cabinet ministers and twenty-four ministers of state, who were all administered oath by President of Bangladesh Mohammed Shahabuddin.
Supreme Court says ‘political leaders must ultimately foster fraternity in country’
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) said political leaders must foster fraternity and high public office-holders should live up to the ideals of the Constitution while hearing a petition highlighting instances of Chief Ministers, senior bureaucrats and police officers making public statements that stigmatise entire communities, legitimise discriminatory governance and erode public confidence in the State’s commitment to equal citizenship. “We would like to impress upon all political parties to follow the principles of constitutional morality, values, mutual respect and self-respect. This is a more than 75-year-old mature democracy; we do not expect people to behave like this,” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heading a three-judge Bench, observed orally.
