Tarique Rahman, Chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, following the BNP alliance's landslide victory in the Thirteenth National Parliament elections.
Why it matters
This marks the fourth time the BNP has formed a government since 1991, ending the long tenure of alternating leadership between the parties of Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, whose party was banned from contesting the election.
Key points
Key points
- Rahman, 60, is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman, and the first male PM in 35 years.
- The BNP and its partners secured 212 seats in the 350-member parliament; the opposition alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami won 77 seats.
- Rahman is scheduled to start his first day in office on Wednesday, February 18, by paying respects at the National Martyrs' Memorial in Savar.
- A.N.M. Ehsanul Haque Milon, who won the Chandpur-1 seat, was sworn in as a minister and assigned the portfolios of Education and Primary and Mass Education.
- The election was overseen by an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, following the ousting of Sheikh Hasina's party in the 2024 uprising.
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