The Bangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) chairman, Tarique Rahman, the scion of Khaleda Zia, will take oath as Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister on Tuesday after leading his party to a forceful victory in the crucial general elections held last week.
Breaking with a long-standing tradition, the swearing-in ceremony of the 60-year-old Rehman would be held at the South Plaza of the Parliament Complex rather than at Bangabhaban.
According to the state-run BSS news agency, President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath to the new cabinet members at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad on Tuesday afternoon.
“The Parliament Secretariat is set to hold the oath-taking ceremony of the new cabinet members at 4:00pm tomorrow. Earlier, the Parliament Members (MPs) will be sworn in at 10:00am at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Complex,” BSS quoted Secretary of the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat Kaniz Maula as saying.
BNP has called a parliamentary party meeting at the Parliament Building at 11:30am to elect the parliamentary party leader.
“As the leader of the majority party, our party chairman, Tarique Rahman, will be the Prime Minister,” BNP standing committee member Salah Uddin Ahmed said.
Who all are attending Tarique Rehman’s swearing-in?
HT had earlier reported that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will represent India at the swearing-in ceremony of Tarique Rahman as the new Bangladesh PM.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Secretary-General of Lok Sabha Utpal Kumar Singh are also likely to accompany Birla, PTI quoted people familiar with the matter as saying.
Maldives President Mohammed Muizzoo, Turkish Undersecretary Beris Ekinci and Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr Nalinda Jayatissa would be among those attending Rahman’s oath ceremony.
The Bangladesh general election results
Bangladesh held the significant 13th parliamentary election on February 12 after a period of tumultuous political vacuum, instability and fragile security situation, including widespread attacks on minorities after the student-led protests brought down the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from contesting the polls, which recorded 59.44 per cent voter turnout.
According to the Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh, the BNP has won 209 of 297 seats, while the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami has secured 68 seats.
Rahman visited the homes of his political rivals after his party’s victory. This included Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman and National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam. Rehman is said to have exchanged greetings and held cordial discussions.
Rahman would become the prime minister for the first time. He will also be the first male to hold the top post in the country since 1991.
The BNP chairperson will replace the interim government chief Muhammad Yunus, under whose tenure Dhaka’s relations with New Delhi witnessed a significant downturn.