The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is set to return to office on Tuesday after two decades, with Tarique Rahman, BNP chairperson and first-time member of parliament, expected to be sworn in as prime minister following the party’s landslide victory in the 13th national parliamentary election on February 12.
The oath-taking ceremony for the cabinet will be held at the South Plaza of the Parliament Building
Breaking with a decades-old tradition of holding such ceremonies at the presidential palace, the South Plaza event commemorates the contributions of July martyrs who sacrificed their lives during the 2024 monsoon uprising, which ended the longest tenure of the ousted Awami League government.
A series of key constitutional events will take place Tuesday at the Parliament Building, marking the formal transition to the new parliamentary term and government formation process. All 297 newly elected Members of Parliament (MPs) will first be sworn in at 10:00am. by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin in the Oath Room of the parliament. They will then assume membership in the Constitutional Reform Council.
BNP lawmakers, including Tarique Rahman, will take their oaths first. They will be followed by MPs from Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party, Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, Khelafat Majlis, Gano Odhikar Parishad, Bangladesh Jatiya Party, Ganosamhati Andolon, and independent members.
Official results show BNP winning 209 seats, while allies Gano Odhikar Parishad and Bangladesh Jatiya Party each won one seat. Ganosamhati Andolon also secured representation. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami emerged as the main opposition with 68 seats, with alliance partners National Citizen Party (6), Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis (2), and Khelafat Majlis (1). Islami Andolon Bangladesh won one seat, and independent candidates won seven constituencies.
Earlier on Friday, the Election Commission published the gazette notification for 297 of 299 parliamentary seats. Results for Chittagong-2 and Chittagong-4 were withheld due to legal complications, while voting in Sherpur-3 was postponed following the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.
In the afternoon, President Mohammed Shahabuddin will administer the oath to the new cabinet members at 4:00 p.m. at the South Plaza. Secretary of the Parliament Secretariat Kaniz Maula told BSS that preparations are underway, with extensive arrangements by both the Cabinet Division and Parliament Secretariat since Saturday, two days after the polls.
Following the MPs’ oath, the BNP Parliamentary Board, having secured an absolute majority, will convene to elect its parliamentary leader. The leader of the House will then meet the president to formally stake claim to form the government. Subsequently, the president will appoint the party leader as Prime Minister, who will then select cabinet colleagues. The president, as head of State, will first administer the oath to the prime minister, followed by ministers, state ministers, and deputy ministers.
The ceremony is expected to host around 1,000 guests, including foreign dignitaries. Confirmed attendees include Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, and India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Foreign ministers from Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan are also expected.
Heads of government from over a dozen countries were invited, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Modi will be represented by Om Birla due to the India-AI Impact Summit in New Delhi from Feb. 16–20. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri is also likely to attend. Leaders from China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, Qatar, and Brunei were invited as well.
This transition marks the end of the interim administration led by Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus, established following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.
