{"id":108434,"date":"2025-12-25T10:22:39","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T10:22:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=108434"},"modified":"2025-12-25T10:22:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T10:22:39","slug":"front-runner-to-be-bangladesh-pm-returns-after-17-years-in-exile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=108434","title":{"rendered":"Front-runner to be Bangladesh PM returns after 17 years in exile"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 6 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>Tarique Rahman, the front-runner to be the next prime minister of Bangladesh, has returned to the country after 17 years in exile ahead of landmark general elections.<\/p>\n<p>The 60-year-old is the figurehead of the influential Zia family and the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia.<\/p>\n<p>The party he leads, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is eyeing a return to power when Bangladesh goes to the polls in the new year.<\/p>\n<p>Rahman, who has lived in London since 2008, is expected to become the country\u2019s new leader if the BNP emerges as the largest party.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\"src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712.png\" alt=\"Front-runner to be Bangladesh PM returns after 17 years in exile\" class=\"wp-image-10032936324\" title=\"Front-runner to be Bangladesh PM returns after 17 years in exile\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-534x300.png 534w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-233x131.png 233w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-150x84.png 150w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-218x122.png 218w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-755x424.png 755w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-330x185.png 330w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-225x126.png 225w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-217x122.png 217w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-340x191.png 340w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-267x150.png 267w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2712-55x31.png 55w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Rahman\u2019s return comes in the wake of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina being ousted last year.<\/p>\n<p>He had been the subject of various criminal investigations launched while her Awami League party was in power but was cleared of all charges when her regime fell.<\/p>\n<p>Hasina is living in exile in India and her party is unlikely to be permitted to take part in the elections, which many view as among the most consequential in Bangladesh\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Hasina was\u00a0sentenced to death for her role in suppressing anti-government protests.<\/p>\n<p>According to UN investigators, up to 1,400 people died in the student-led unrest.<\/p>\n<p>Hasina, who was put on trial in absentia, has denied committing crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div 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                                                             <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/image-2711-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Front-runner to be Bangladesh PM returns after 17 years in exile\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Front-runner to be Bangladesh PM returns after 17 years in exile\">Tarique Rahman, the front-runner to be the next prime minister of Bangladesh, has returned to the country after 17 years in exile ahead of landmark general elections.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14484,14485,1910,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bangladesh-pm","category-exile","category-international","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/108435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}