DHAKA: Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairman Tarique Rahman took the oath as prime minister on Tuesday, days after his party secured more than a two-thirds majority in the first vote since a student-led uprising expelled former Premier Sheikh Hasina.
The son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman — the BNP’s founder — Rahman returned to Bangladesh in late December after nearly two decades of self-imposed exile.
He led his party to a landslide victory last week, winning an absolute majority with 209 seats in the 300-seat parliament, followed by the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which won 68 seats.
The swearing-in ceremony was held publicly for the first time, under the open sky at the south plaza of the national parliament building.
Rahman’s administration takes over from an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus who during the 18 months after Hasina’s ouster in August 2024, prepared the country for reform and the next election.
