Tarique Rahman returns from exile to win Bangladesh election

Less than two months after returning from 17 years of self-imposed exile in London, Tarique Rahman has won one of Bangladesh’s most pivotal elections and is set to become prime minister, leading the country as his parents once did. A coalition led by his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secured a decisive two-thirds majority in the parliamentary election, bringing stability after months of turmoil following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a Gen Z-led uprising in 2024. Rahman, who returned home last Christmas, has pledged to recalibrate Bangladesh’s international partnerships, expand financial aid for poor families, and introduce reforms to deter autocratic tendencies. His landslide victory has been described as a victory of a democratic, moderate force, with the challenge now being to ensure good governance, law and order, and establish a rights-based state.

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