Sheikh Hasina sworn in as Bangladesh PM for fifth term
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sworn in for a fifth term after her party, Awami League won a landslide victory in the general election boycotted by the opposition.
Hasina, 76, who will serve her fourth consecutive term as the 12th prime minister, got her oath ceremony administered by President Mohammad Shahabuddin, which was attended by politicians, foreign diplomats, civil society figures and senior civil and military officials at Bangabhaban presidential palace.
“I am, Sheikh Hasina, taking oath...that I will discharge my duties faithfully as the prime minister of the government as per the law," Hasina said during her oath-taking ceremony which was broadcast live on television.
Her 36-member cabinet was also sworn into office during the ceremony, but the names circulated by the cabinet office showed around 15 ministers from the previous cabinet were dropped but most senior ministers retained their positions.
The Awami League secured an overwhelming three-fourths of elected seats (223 seats out of 300) in parliament, while the remaining seats were filled by allied parties and independent candidates.
The polling witnessed the absence of ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP); after their demand for Hasina to step down and allow a neutral authority to oversee the January 7 polls was rejected by Hasina.
The opposition also described the elections as a "sham" designed to entrench Hasina in power.
Hasina said she did not need to prove the credibility of the election to anyone. "What is important is if the people of Bangladesh will accept this election."
Both Hasina and her adversaries have levied allegations against their opponents for attempting to instigate disorder and aggression to impede political harmony and endanger the nascent democracy of the nation, which is home to a population of 170 million individuals.
The daughter of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina has been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009.
Bangladesh, once engulfed by grinding poverty, has upheld office throughout the speedy economic growth in Bangladesh and is among the world's longest-serving female heads of government.
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