Tarique Rahman spent 17 years in exile. He is now poised to lead Bangladesh

Tarique Rahman, who spent 17 years in self-imposed exile, appears set to become Bangladesh’s new prime minister following Thursday’s national election. According to local media reports, Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has secured a majority, marking a dramatic political shift in the South Asian nation of over 170 million people.

The 60-year-old politician’s return from London in December came at a tumultuous time for Bangladesh. Days after his arrival, his mother, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, died following a prolonged illness. Rahman then faced the election against a rising religious conservative party that had gained momentum after the 2024 student-led uprising that toppled his mother’s longtime rival, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

This political comeback represents a remarkable turnaround for Rahman, though significant challenges lie ahead. Bangladesh has experienced considerable unrest since the 2024 uprising, including the death of a student leader, resurgence of Islamist groups, deterioration of the rule of law, attacks on Hindu minorities and the press, as well as economic struggles.

“Rahman has said all the right things, pledging to eliminate corruption and bring the country together. That all sounds well and good. But the BNP has a poor track record from when it was last in power — there was repression and corruption,” noted Michael Kugelman, a Senior Fellow for South Asia at the Atlantic Council.

Rahman comes from one of Bangladesh’s most prominent political dynasties. His mother served two five-year terms as prime minister, most recently from 2001 to 2006. His father, Ziaur Rahman, rose from the military to become Bangladesh’s sixth president before his assassination in 1981. Rahman is married to Zubaida Rahman, a physician and daughter of a former Bangladesh Navy chief.

The BNP, along with Hasina’s now-banned Awami League party, has dominated Bangladesh’s political landscape for decades. In recent years, the BNP boycotted several elections, including the 2024 vote, citing widespread electoral fraud.

Rahman’s political career has been marked by controversy. Under Hasina’s government, he faced multiple criminal cases and was sentenced in 2018 to life imprisonment for his alleged connection to a 2004 grenade attack on Hasina that killed at least 24 people. Hasina narrowly survived the attack. Rahman and his party denied his involvement, characterizing the verdict as politically motivated.

He left Bangladesh in 2008, officially for medical treatment, after reportedly being tortured while in custody during the military-backed administration that governed from 2006 to 2008. Though never holding official office in his mother’s governments, Rahman wielded considerable influence within the BNP, serving in various leadership roles. A leaked set of U.S. diplomatic cables once described him as “phenomenally corrupt.”

Following Hasina’s government’s collapse, the charges and convictions against Rahman were dropped, clearing the path for his return from exile. In the lead-up to the election, he worked to reshape his image, promising job creation, financial aid for impoverished families, greater freedom of speech, stronger law enforcement, and an end to corruption. His campaign portrayed him as a defender of democracy in a country long shaped by entrenched political parties, military interventions, and alleged electoral manipulation.

After Hasina’s removal from power, interim leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus met with Rahman in London, an encounter that apparently facilitated his return to Bangladesh. However, his rise is expected to displease many who participated in the uprising, particularly those hoping to free the country from dynastic politics and the traditional political establishment they blame for Bangladesh’s problems.

According to Kugelman, a crucial test for Rahman will be his treatment of Hasina’s Awami League party, which has been accused of cracking down on the BNP previously, including arresting senior leaders and party workers. Rahman’s mother was arrested and imprisoned during Hasina’s government.

Hasina has been in exile in India since August 2024, and a special tribunal in Dhaka sentenced her to death last year for crimes against humanity related to her crackdown that killed protesters during the uprising that ousted her. She denies all charges. Meanwhile, her party was barred from participating in the election, and thousands of its members remain in hiding fearing persecution.

“If Rahman leans on retribution, it shows the old politics haven’t disappeared,” said Kugelman. “But a focus on unity would be an encouraging sign.”