Lawmakers pledged allegiance to Bangladesh as hundreds of people gathered outside Dhaka’s parliament grounds.
Published On 17 Feb 2026
Newly elected Bangladesh lawmakers have been sworn into parliament, days after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept the first vote since the 2024 student-led uprising that expelled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Tarique Rahman will take the oath as prime minister later on Tuesday, as the BNP is expected to form a new government after securing more than a two-thirds majority in the elections last week.
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Inside the parliament’s oath room, lawmakers pledged loyalty to Bangladesh as they were sworn in by the Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin. Foreign dignitaries, including the Pakistani foreign minister and the speaker of India’s parliament, were in attendance.
Cabinet members were slated to follow suit with another ceremony hosted in front of the parliament building at 4pm (10:00 GMT).
Despite tight security, hundreds of people pooled outside the grounds throughout Tuesday to await the proceedings.
“People really want changes. They want to see new faces in parliament: People with good qualifications, even people who are younger,” said Al Jazeera’s Tanvir Chowdhury, reporting from the capital, Dhaka.
“You’ll see a lot of new faces, and that’s what’s expected: They want new dynamics in parliament.”
The BNP won at least 212 seats in the 300-seat parliament, giving it a strong majority, while the Jamaat-e-Islami party won 77 seats. Hasina’s Awami League was banned from participating in the polls.
Rahman will take over from an interim government that led the country for 18 months after Hasina’s ousting.
He will also be tasked with implementing the July National Charter, which contains 80-plus prospective reforms of Bangladesh’s governance system.
More than 60 percent of the electorate voted to pass the charter in a referendum held at the same time as the election.
The sweeping document introduces term limits, a two-chamber parliament and limits the governing party’s ability to make unilateral amendments, among other changes.
“Lots of fundamental and primary change is expected by the population, particularly the younger population who were behind the July uprising,” Al Jazeera’s Chowdhury said. “They want to be represented in this parliament, and their voices must be heard.”
