Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has been named in the TIME magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2026, in recognition of his leadership, courage and contribution to restoration of democracy, reports UNB.
The list published by the New York-based weekly on Wednesday also contains the names of US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Pope Leo XIV, Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
In his profile, TIME editor-at-large Charlie Campbell said Tarique Rahman was living a carefree life of exile in leafy southwest London just a few months ago. "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."
It was a victory that meant Tarique Rahman had followed in the footsteps of his mother Begum Khaleda Zia, who was Bangladesh's first female Prime Minister and who passed away just five days after his return to Dhaka, he said.
"His grief was still raw when Rahman sat down with TIME in January, though he vowed to channel it into unifying his country of 175 million, while getting South Asia's second biggest economy buzzing again. Bangladesh is beset by high inflation and youth unemployment, and relations with regional superpower India have reached a historic nadir. All require swift remedy."
Sharing the information on his verified Facebook account, Prime Minister's Adviser on Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Mahdi Amin described the recognition as a "historic moment" and a "democratic milestone" for Bangladesh.
He said the global magazine recognised Tarique Rahman's leadership, courage and contribution to what he described as the restoration of democracy on the international stage.
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