The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Reuters reported that Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Tarique Rahman was sworn in as prime minister on Tuesday, marking a significant political shift in the South Asian nation following a period of turmoil.
Rahman, 60, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and
assassinated President Ziaur Rahman, took office after his party secured a
sweeping parliamentary election victory.
According to the report, Rahman faces pressing challenges,
including restoring political stability, rebuilding investor confidence and
reviving key industries such as the garment sector after unrest that followed a
Gen Z-led uprising that toppled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s
government in 2024.
An interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad
Yunus governed the country during the transitional period ahead of the
election.
Breaking with tradition, the swearing-in ceremony was held
in an open-air event at the South Plaza of the national parliament building
instead of Bangabhaban, the president’s official residence. President Mohammed
Shahabuddin administered the oath as Rahman and his 49-member council of
ministers were sworn in before senior political figures, diplomats and
representatives from countries including China, India and Pakistan.
The new cabinet includes both senior and junior ministers,
combining experienced BNP leaders with new figures in what Reuters described as
an effort to balance political experience with technocratic expertise. Former
Commerce Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury was appointed finance minister,
while Khalilur Rahman, who served as national security adviser in the interim
government, was named foreign minister.
Rahman’s BNP secured a two-thirds majority, returning to
power after nearly two decades. The Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami won 68 seats
in its first election since a 2013 ban was lifted following Hasina’s removal
from office. Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from contesting after its
registration was revoked by the Election Commission.
Jamaat and its allies, including the National Citizen Party
led by youth activists involved in the anti-Hasina movement, are set to form
the opposition. However, Jamaat and the National Citizen Party boycotted the
swearing-in ceremony in protest after the BNP rejected a proposal requiring
lawmakers to take an additional oath under a planned Constitution Reform
Council.
Rahman returned to Bangladesh last year after 17 years of
self-imposed exile in London. In his first remarks after the election, he
called for calm.
“Peace, law and order must be maintained at any cost … We
will not tolerate any kind of chaos,” he said.
