Bangladesh Nationalist Party Chairman Tariq Rahman was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Tuesday after being elected as the leader of the BNP parliamentary party.
Tariq Rahman took oath at Jatiya Sangsad Bhawan. (AP)The BNP won 209 out of 297 seats in the Bangladesh parliament, while the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami, once their ally and now their primary rival, won 68 seats in the February 12 election. Ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League has been banned from contesting elections.
Apart from Rahman, 25 ministers and 24 state ministers took oath. BNP has 50 members in its cabinet, including 25 ministers, 24 state ministers and three technocrats, Prothom Alo reported. Among the 25 ministers, 17 are new faces, all ministers of state also occupying the post for the first time. PM Rahman also became a cabinet member for the first time.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla represented India at Rahman’s swearing-in ceremony. According to news agency PTI, Birla arrived in Dhaka this morning and was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and other officials.
On reaching there, Birla was welcomed by Bangladesh Foreign Ministry Secretary Nazrul Islam. The Lok Sabha speaker said it was an “important moment” that would strengthen people-to-people ties and shared democratic values between India and Bangladesh.
An invitation was extended to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was among the first leaders to congratulate Rahman on his victory. However, PM Modi had talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The leader of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, resigned on Monday. An interim government has been running the country since Sheikh Hasina was ousted in July 2024.
“Today, the interim government is stepping down. But let the exercise of democracy, freedom of speech and fundamental rights not stop,” Yunus said in his farewell address to the nation before handing over to an elected government.
Security ramped up at Bangladesh’s Jatiya Sangsad BhabanBangladesh’s home ministry ordered police personnel as well as others concerned to ensure maximum security at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhawan, where Rahman took the oath, the country’s state-owned news agency reported.
Law enforcement agencies have been asked to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the prime minister and cabinet ministers during the event, Bangladesh News Agency reported.
A comprehensive plan has been finalized to ensure security at the venue and surrounding areas, Buss said, quoting sources at the police headquarters. Special security arrangements were made around South Plaza with Special Security Force (SSF) to ensure tight security during the Prime Minister’s movement.
The security convoy included police personnel, Presidential Guard Regiment (PGR), SSF, Jammer System, SSF Security Screening Team, along with ambulance and medical support, according to Buses.
BNP-Jamaat disagreement over ‘Constitution Reform Council’BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami faced disagreements over the ‘Constitutional Reform Council’ formed to implement the July Charter in addition to the parliamentary elections.
The July Charter called for a major rewrite of the Constitution. The complex 84-point proposal was put to a referendum in a familiar but almost cryptic form for a vote.
When newly elected MPs from Jamaat-e-Islami took oath as MPs and second oath as members of the “Constitutional Reform Council”, BNP refused to do so, PTI reported.
The Election Commission said more than 60 percent of voters voted “yes” in the referendum. “We have not been elected as members of the Constitutional Reform Council; no provisions of the council have been incorporated in the constitution yet,” PTI quoted BNP MP Salahuddin Ahmed as saying.
