Bangladesh's Untested Leaders Face a Generation That Won't Accept Empty Promises

Just two years after Sheikh Hasina won what was widely condemned as a rigged election, her 15-year grip on power has crumbled. But the real story isn't Tarique Rahman's landslide victory—it's the 19-year-old and 21-year-old protesters watching from the sidelines, arms crossed, waiting to see if this time will be different.

The Unlikely Victor

Rahman, who spent 17 years in self-imposed exile in London, returned to Bangladesh just five days before his mother Khaleda Zia's death. He's never held office, never run a campaign, never governed anything. In most democracies, this would be a liability. In Bangladesh's politics of perpetual disappointment, it might just be an asset.

"That he doesn't have prior experience probably works for him, because people are willing to give change a chance," says political scientist Navine Murshid. "They want to think that new, good things are actually possible."

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) swept to victory promising to restore democracy and rebuild institutions "destroyed over the last decade." It's a familiar refrain in Bangladeshi politics, where parties routinely promise reform while in opposition, only to become increasingly authoritarian once in power.

A Generation That Remembers How to Fight

But this time, there's a crucial difference: the young people who toppled Hasina in the July 2024 uprising aren't buying into political theater.

Tazin Ahmed, 19, who participated in the protests, puts it bluntly: "We don't want to fight again. The stepping down of the previous prime minister was not the victory. When our country runs smoothly without any corruption, and the economy becomes good, that will be our main victory."

Her cousin Tahmina Tasnim, 21, is even more direct: "We have been part of an uprising and we know how to fight back. So if the same things start again, we will have the right to do it again."

This isn't the usual post-election honeymoon period. These young voters are essentially putting the new government on probation.

The Inexperience Problem

The challenges facing Rahman's government are staggering: restoring law and order, reviving a battered economy, controlling food prices, and creating jobs for Bangladesh's massive young population. The problem? Almost nobody in the new government knows how to govern.

Sociologist Samina Luthfa notes that "we are going to see leaders in the parliament who have never been to the parliament before." The National Citizens Party (NCP), formed by student uprising leaders, won six seats in their debut. The Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, banned twice in Bangladesh's history, is back with significant representation.

Jamaat's manifesto was notably secular and development-focused, making no mention of Islamic law. But their website still reads: "Jamaat performs in political arena because Islamic law can't be implemented without political force"—a statement that raises questions about long-term intentions.

The Women Left Behind

One glaring failure cuts across all parties: women made up just over 4% of candidates, despite playing crucial roles in the July uprising. Of Bangladesh's 350 parliamentary seats, 300 are directly elected while 50 are reserved for women nominated by parties based on their electoral performance.

"We the women who were part of the July uprising—all political parties have failed to translate our collective agency into a more formal political, electoral arena," Luthfa says.

The Excluded Opposition

The credibility of this "democratic" election remains questionable. Hasina's Awami League was barred from participating, leading the former prime minister to call Thursday's poll an "election of deception and farce" from her exile in India.

When asked about bringing the Awami League back into politics, senior BNP leader Chowdhury was dismissive: "When you are accused of killing your own people, of atrocities, persecution, then the people will decide where they fit in in the future of Bangladesh politics."

But given Bangladesh's cyclical political history, writing off the Awami League forever would be premature.