Dhaka, Feb 17 (.) Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Tarique Rahman will take oath as the new Prime Minister on Tuesday after leading his party to a decisive victory in the crucial general elections, following the death of his mother and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in December 2025. The win marks the party’s return to power after nearly two decades.

Tarique Rahman becomes the first male to hold the post in decades. The swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet will be held at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad in Dhaka at 4:00 pm.

Rahman’s party won 209 of 297 elected seats in the first general election since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Later in the day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath of office to Rahman and his Cabinet.

Tarique Rahman, 60, is the eldest son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who passed away shortly after his return to Bangladesh in December 2025, and former President Ziaur Rahman, the founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Ziaur Rahman was assassinated during a military coup in 1981, after which Khaleda Zia entered politics and first assumed office as Prime Minister in 1991. Rahman has served as the party’s acting chairman since his mother’s imprisonment in 2018.

297 newly elected Members of Parliament will also be sworn in by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at the Parliament’s oath room. While there were initial reports that MPs might also assume membership in a proposed Constitutional Reform Council, uncertainty remains over the legal basis for such a move.

BNP leaders have indicated that the existing Constitution provides only for the swearing-in of MPs and does not mention a constitutional reform council.

A “Constitution Reform Commission” is also set to take oath, according to the Election Commission of Bangladesh, a move that has surprised many newly elected MPs, particularly from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). According to reports, following the February 12, 2026 referendum, which passed with a majority ‘yes’ vote, the entire parliament is expected to function as the Commission for 180 days. As a result, all MPs were scheduled to be sworn in as members of the Commission as well.

Unlike the Jamaat party, the BNP has declined to take the second oath as members of the Constitution Reform Commission, signaling its refusal to formally endorse the referendum conducted alongside the general election. Over 60 percent of voters reportedly supported the referendum, according to the Election Commission.

The swearing-in ceremony is expected to host around 1,200 local and foreign dignitaries. Confirmed attendees include Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla representing India, and Pakistan’s Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal. Other foreign ministers, including Nepal’s Bala Nanda Sharma and Sri Lanka’s Nalinda Jayatissa, are also expected.

The ceremony marks the end of the interim government led by Chief Adviser Mohammed Yunus, which took charge after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government.

In his farewell address, Yunus highlighted the government’s focus on institutional reforms and the drafting of the July Charter, which was adopted by a broad spectrum of political parties and endorsed in the recent referendum. The Charter aims to prevent the resurgence of authoritarianism and ensure stability in Bangladesh’s democratic institutions.

. .