BNP chief Tarique Rahman takes oath as Bangladesh PM

Tarique Rahman, the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was sworn in as the prime minister of Bangladesh on Tuesday.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath of office to Rahman and several members of the Cabinet.

Rahman is the son of former President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who died on December 30.

He was sworn in after an alliance led by his party swept the parliamentary elections held on February 12, winning 212 out of 299 constituencies. The coalition led by the Jamaat-e-Islami emerged as the main Opposition with 77 seats.

This was the first national election in Bangladesh since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted. She fled to India in August 2024 after several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been in power for 16 years.

Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus had taken over as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government at the time. With Rahman taking the oath, the interim government’s term came to an end.

Earlier on Tuesday, all elected MPs, including those from the Opposition Jamaat-e-Islami, were sworn-in in Parliament. The oath was administered by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin.

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