Newly-appointed Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairman Tarique Rahman has made it clear that a return to the political order that existed before the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government is not on the table.
“There is no reason” to go back to the pre-August 5 situation, Rahman said on Saturday, hours after taking charge of the party, setting the tone for the BNP’s pitch ahead of the February 12 general elections.
With the Awami League out of the contest and an interim government in place, Rahman has emerged as a leading contender for the post of prime minister.
Weeks before the polls, Rahman told editors and senior reporters that Bangladesh must move forward, even while acknowledging the country’s unresolved challenges.
“We had problems in the past and we still have problems. But, we don’t want to go back to pre-August 5 days. There’s no reason for us to do that,” he said.
Stressing the need for dialogue amid political differences, he added, “Although we have various kinds of differences among us, we should be able to minimise them through dialogue.”
Rahman’s elevation comes at a moment of transition for the BNP. The party’s Standing Committee approved his appointment as chairman in a meeting on Friday, days after the death of his mother, Khaleda Zia, on December 30.
Zia, a three-time prime minister and one of Bangladesh’s most influential political figures, had led the BNP for decades.
In a statement posted on X late Friday night, the party said: “Following the passing of BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister, national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, the position of party Chairman became vacant. In line with the BNP constitution, a meeting of the National Standing Committee was held.”
It added, “At the meeting, Mr Tarique Rahman was unanimously appointed to the vacant post and formally given responsibility as the Chairman of the BNP.”
For Rahman, 60, the appointment marks the formal end of an extended period in the shadows. He returned to Bangladesh on December 25 after 17 years of self-exile in London.
His absence had shaped both his political image and the party’s internal structure.
In 2002, he was made BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General, rose to Senior Vice Chairman in 2009, and in 2018, when Khaleda Zia was imprisoned, he was appointed acting chairperson.
On Saturday, Rahman outlined what he described as a commitment to democratic continuity and accountability if the BNP were to form the next government.
“My personal belief is this - if, at any cost, we can continue accountability and the democratic process, there may be many obstacles, and it may be very difficult. But if we can keep the democratic process going over a certain period of time, we will surely be able to bring change,” he said.
Invoking key moments in Bangladesh’s political history, Rahman linked his vision to past struggles.
If the spirit of the 1971 Liberation War, the 1990 mass uprising against the HM Ershad regime, and the August 5 movement were kept alive, “I firmly believe, we will be able to guide the nation in the right direction,” he said.
He also spoke of plans to reshape public life, with a focus on health and the economy, describing these as central to the BNP’s agenda.
“I have a plan,” Rahman had said earlier, in his first public address on the day he returned from the UK, echoing Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous words, “I have a dream.”
The political landscape Rahman is stepping into has been redrawn over the past five months. Sheikh Hasina was ousted following violent student-led protests during July and August, and fled to India on August 5, 2024.
Three days later, Muhammad Yunus assumed charge as head of an interim government, which disbanded the Awami League through an executive order.
A special tribunal later sentenced Hasina to death on charges of committing “crimes against humanity” during her handling of the protests, described as the July Uprising.
With Hasina and the Awami League no longer in contention, the BNP enters the election as the frontrunner, with its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami positioned as its main rival.
Rahman, however, remained silent on how a BNP-led government would respond to shifting geopolitical pressures or address the altered domestic situation ahead of the polls.