On February 17, 2026, Tarique Rahman was sworn in as Bangladesh's prime minister following his party's landslide victory in parliamentary elections held on February 12. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its partners secured 212 seats in the 300-member parliament, returning to power after two decades in opposition. Rahman, 60, is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and assassinated President Ziaur Rahman. He had spent 17 years in self-imposed exile in London before returning to Bangladesh in December, shortly before his mother's death.
The election was overseen by an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took power after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led uprising in August 2024. Hasina's Awami League party was banned from participating in the election. Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party, won 68 seats and will form the opposition along with allies including the National Citizen Party, a new party formed by student activists from the 2024 uprising that won 6 seats.
The swearing-in ceremony broke with tradition by being held outdoors at the parliament building rather than at the presidential residence. Foreign dignitaries from India, Pakistan, China, Maldives, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the UK attended. A constitutional referendum held simultaneously with the election proposed reforms including prime ministerial term limits and stronger checks on executive power, though BNP lawmakers refused to take a second oath related to implementing these reforms.