Tarique Rahman Becomes Bangladesh's 11th Prime Minister, Marking Historic Firsts

Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP ) supremo Tarique Rahman took oath as Bangladesh’s 11th Prime Minister on Tuesday. With this, Rehman, son of late Bangladeshi PM Khaleda Zia and and late President Ziaur Rahman, marks the end of the 18-month rule of the interim government which took charge after the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina regime in August 2024. Here are a list of historic firsts that will underline Rehman’s five-year-long tenure. Rahman spent nearly 17 years in self‑imposed exile in London before returning to Bangladesh in late 2025, following his mother’s death and the collapse of the previous government’s legal barriers. Notably, no major Bangladeshi political leader in modern times has returned from prolonged exile to assume power in the country’s highest executive office. Rahman would also lead the first BNP‑led government in about two decades, marking the party’s return to power after a long period in opposition. The BNP once dominated Bangladeshi politics under earlier leadership but Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League held power for nearly 20 years. Rahman has become the first male prime minister to assume power in 35 years. Over the past three decades, the premiership has been held almost exclusively by women- his mother Khaleda Zia and then Sheikh Hasina- making this a significant breakthrough in the country’s executive leadership. Rahman would extend Bangladesh’s pattern of political dynasties, becoming one of the few leaders to follow directly from two influential political family figures, his parents. However, his path has been notably atypical: he has never served as prime minister before and his return follows the overturning of past legal convictions that had kept him abroad. In 2016, Bangladesh’s High Court had sentenced him to seven years in prison for money laundering, Al Jazeera reported.