Tarique Rahman, set to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister, told reporters in Dhaka that his government would focus on strengthening democracy and tackling challenges he said stem from weakened institutions after the political upheaval that led to the end of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s rule. Speaking to journalists after his party’s election victory, Rahman said the country is starting “our journey” under what he described as a fragile economy and a deteriorated state of the rule of law.
Rahman said his administration plans to address “weak [constitutional] and statutory institutions” and what he called a decline in the rule of law, while also improving public order. He said the new government’s work will begin “in a situation marked by a fragile economy” left by the “authoritarian regime,” and he linked those conditions to the immediate tasks facing the incoming leadership.
His comments come after Bangladesh held parliamentary elections on Thursday, the first vote after Hasina was removed in a mass uprising in 2024. The elections were overseen by an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and voting was described as largely peaceful.
The Associated Press reported that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the party Rahman belongs to, won a majority in the election for the 350-seat parliament. An alliance of 11 parties led by Jamaat-e-Islami is expected to form the opposition, according to the report.
Rahman, who is the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who died in December, said the transition should also be guided by unity. He told reporters that “to guarantee that none of the evil forces can bring back autocracy in the country,” and to ensure “the nation” is not turned into a “servile state,” Bangladeshis must remain united and defend what he described as the will of the people.
The report also noted that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is among the country’s longstanding political forces and that the Awami League, now banned, was previously led by Hasina. It said Hasina, who has been in exile in India since her 2024 ouster, was declared convicted of crimes of crimes against humanity tied to hundreds of deaths during the weeks-long uprising.
The new government is expected to be sworn in in the coming days, after Rahman’s meeting with the press in the capital. In his remarks, he portrayed the coming term as a moment for both governance and institutional rebuilding, while warning against a slide back toward authoritarian rule.