Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been featured on the Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people of the world for 2026.
The list published on Wednesday by the New York-based magazine includes prominent leaders such as US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Pope Leo XIV, Benjamin Netanyahu, Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, among others.
"Rewind just a few months and Tarique Rahman was living a carefree life of exile in leafy southwest London. But the 2024 ousting of Bangladesh's autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina propelled the 57-year-old scion from opposition agitator to national leader in?waiting -- a destiny he fulfilled in February by winning an electoral landslide after 17 years estranged from his homeland," wrote Time Magazine in his profile.
It also noted that his return coincided with the passing of his mother, Khaleda Zia, described as Bangladesh's first female prime minister, adding that Tarique met the moment with a pledge to unify the nation.
Bangladesh is struggling with high inflation and youth unemployment, while ties with India have hit a historic low. All of these problems need urgent solutions, Time noted.
"Corruption allegations from the aughts (albeit since quashed by the courts) may mean any honeymoon period will be shorter than most. But after so many years in the wilderness, he's determined not to waste any more time."
"We need to work together," Tarique told Time, "so that people can have their political rights."
