Tarique Rahman elected Bangladesh's prime minister

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman took the oath of office Tuesday as the 11th prime minister of the South Asian nation, according to media reports.

Rahman is the first male premier since 1991 and will serve a five-year term.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath to the BNP chairman and the 49-member Cabinet, in front of the parliament building in Dhaka.

A total of 25 ministers and 24 state ministers were also sworn in during the ceremony, according to The Business Standard.

Technocrat Khalilur Rahman was appointed foreign minister, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury as minister for finance and planning, while Tarique retained the defense portfolio.

Earlier Tuesday, 297 lawmakers, including those from the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led bloc, were sworn in for the 13th parliament, elected in last week's historic elections, the first time since the 2024 uprising, which uprooted the 15-year-long government of the Awami League.

Foreign leaders and officials joined the outgoing interim government leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and his team during the oath-taking ceremony.

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Pakistan's Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, India's lower house speaker Om Birla and UK Under-Secretary Seema Malhotra were among the foreign guests.

The interim government has ruled the country since Aug. 8, 2024, after Awami League leader and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on Aug. 5 of that year.

Yunus and his team held elections last week, resulting in Bangladesh's first elected government in 18 months.

The Awami League was barred from last week's elections, as the BNP and its allies secured a two-thirds majority of 212 seats.

In the 300-seat parliament, elections for three seats were postponed, while 50 additional seats reserved for women will be allotted to parties on the basis of their voting percentage.

More than 127.6 million people in Bangladesh were eligible to cast ballots last week when the country saw a voter turnout of 59.44%, up from 41.8% in the January 2024 elections.

A concurrent referendum held on constitutional reforms received an overwhelming vote in favor, exceeding 60%.