Tarique Rahman Set to Take Oath as Bangladesh PM

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin is expected to administer the oath of office to the new cabinet of BNP chairman Tarique Rahman within the next four days, officials said on Saturday.

In Thursday's historic parliamentary elections, Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a landslide victory with a majority of over two-thirds.

Muhammad Yunus, the head of the interim administration, would be replaced as prime minister by the BNP leader.

“In line with the Constitution, the president will administer the oath at Bangabhaban (presidential palace),” Cabinet Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid said without giving any specific date for the oath ceremony.

According to a top BNP policy-making leader who wished to remain anonymous, the swearing-in ceremony is anticipated to take place on February 16 or 17.

The Constitution mandates that the swearing-in of new parliament members come after the government oath-taking ceremony, but a prominent Rahman aide claimed that the current legal situation made the matter somewhat difficult.

“The speaker of the last parliament is supposed to conduct the MPs' oath of office, but she resigned and is living in an undisclosed location. The deputy speaker is in jail,” he said, wishing not to be named.

In such circumstances, he said, the president might select someone to conduct the event of administering the lawmakers’ oath as “the Constitution has kept a provision” for such an eventuality.

The cabinet secretary, meanwhile, said the Constitution says the MPs-elect must take oath within three days of the gazette notification and then the majority party would elect its parliamentary leader. The gazette notification was issued on Saturday morning.

Asked for the possible date of the cabinet’s swearing in, Rashid said no date had been fixed yet.

“If we are instructed or indicated that it will be held on a certain date and at a certain time, we will work accordingly. Even if it is tomorrow, we will have to prepare for tomorrow. We will be able to tell you the date once we are informed,” the top bureaucrat said.

Law ministry officials said, since the gazette notification was issued on Saturday, the three days for the oath-taking could be considered from Sunday, covering 15, 16 and 17 February.

The 13th Parliamentary election assumed significance as it was held after a period of tumultuous political vacuum, instability and fragile security situation, including widespread attacks on minorities after the student-led protests brought down the 15-year rule of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Hasina fled to India on August 5 that year, and three days later, Yunus took over as the Chief Adviser of the Interim government.

The BNP has won 209 of 297 seats, while the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami has won 68 seats, according to the Election Commission (EC). The votes showed 59.44% voter turnout, and Hasina's Awami League party was not allowed to run.

Two seats, Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4, had their results postponed by the EC, and one seat's election was delayed because a candidate passed away.