PM-designate Tarique Rahman, who led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to a sweeping victory in the 2026 elections on Thursday, has again called for peace and unity, which has been at the forefront of his campaign.
Rahman, who recently returned to his country after a 17-year-long self-imposed exile declared at a press conference that the big win was dedicated to "people who aspire to—and have sacrificed for—democracy".
“This victory belongs to Bangladesh. This victory belongs to democracy ... From today, we are all free, with the true essence of freedom and rights restored,” he said, ahead of taking over the reins from the interim government currently in place in the country, led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
“With your spontaneous participation, after more than one and a half decades, a parliament and government accountable to the people through direct voting are being re-established in the country,” he added, as he asked people to stand united “to ensure that no evil force can re-establish autocracy in the country, and that the nation is not turned into a subservient state".
Despite the exclusion of ousted former PM Sheikh Hasina and her party, the Awami League, after the student-led protests of 2024, the February 12 polls were said to be Bangladesh's first chance at real democracy.
One of Dhaka's primary objectives will be to recalibrate its foreign policy, as a part of which resetting ties with regional neighbours such as India, China, and Pakistan is expected to take place.
Specifically, on the topic of ties with India, which had faced tensions under Yunus's interim government, Rahman said that the "interests of Bangladesh and its people will determine our foreign policy”. This is in line with the BNP Chairman's 'Bangladesh First' policy, which mirrors Washington's 'America First' policy.
Dhaka is also set to enforce constitutional reforms proposed in the July National Charter, which received the maximum number of votes in the National Referendum.