\n Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was sworn into office on Tuesday to lead the first elected government since a deadly 2024 uprising, facing a daunting list of challenges.\n<\/p>\n
\n Top of the list for 60-year-old Rahman will be to improving security, healing rifts in a country polarised by years of bitter rivalry, and tackling the economic woes of the world's second-largest garment exporter.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rahman takes over from the interim government that has steered the country of 170 million people for 18 months since the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of prime minister of the government, in accordance with the law,\" he said, sworn in by President Mohammed Shahabuddin, in a ceremony held outside the parliament building, and broadcast on state television.\n<\/p>\n
\n Rahman, chief of the BNP and scion of one of the country's most powerful political dynasties, won a landslide victory in the February 12 elections.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This victory belongs to Bangladesh, belongs to democracy,\" Rahman said in his victory speech on Saturday.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"This victory belongs to people who aspire to and have sacrificed for democracy.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The new leader has pledged to restore stability and revive growth after months of turmoil that rattled investor confidence in the world's second-largest garment exporter.\n<\/p>\n
\n He has also called for all parties to \"remain united\" in a country polarised by years of bitter rivalry.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We are about to begin our journey in a situation marked by a fragile economy left behind by the authoritarian regime, weakened constitutional and statutory institutions, and a deteriorating law and order situation,\" he added in his victory speech.\n<\/p>\n
\n After Rahman was sworn in, his ministers then lined up to take their oath of office.\n<\/p>\n
\n Lawmakers, who all promised loyalty to Bangladesh, were earlier sworn in to parliament by the Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, before the BNP members chose Rahman as their leader.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Peaceful opposition' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Rahman's win marks a remarkable turnaround for a man who only returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile in Britain, far from Dhaka's political storms.\n<\/p>\n
\n The BNP coalition won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance.\n<\/p>\n
\n Jamaat, which secured more than a quarter of seats in parliament -- a four-fold increase on its previous best -- has challenged results in 32 constituencies.\n<\/p>\n
\n But Jamaat leader Shafiqur Rahman, 67, has also said the Islamist party would \"serve as a vigilant, principled, and peaceful opposition\".\n<\/p>\n
\n Hasina's Awami League party was barred from taking part in the elections.\n<\/p>\n
\n Hasina, 78, who was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, issued a statement from hiding in India decrying an \"illegal\" election.\n<\/p>\n
\n But India praised the BNP's \"decisive win\" -- a notable shift after deeply strained ties.\n<\/p>\n
\n Only seven women were directly elected, although a further 50 seats reserved for women will be allocated to parties according to their share of the vote.\n<\/p>\n
\n Four members of minority communities won seats, including two Hindus -- a population that makes up roughly seven percent in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.\n<\/p>\n
\n Despite weeks of turbulence ahead of the polls, voting day passed without major unrest and the country has so far responded to the results with relative calm.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"If the BNP can do a good job with the economy, it will make everything else easier for the government,\" Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean said.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It will help to create a level of stability, to tackle the many other challenges beyond the economy.\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was sworn into office on Tuesday to lead the first elected government since a deadly 2024 uprising, facing a daunting list of challenges. Top of the list for 60-year-old Rahman will be to improving security, healing rifts in a country polarised by years of bitter rivalry, and tackling the economic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-155446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n