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Published : 22 Dec 2025, 05:11 PM
BNP leader Tarique Rahman is expected to register as a voter on Dec 27, two days after returning to the country following 17 years in exile.
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters on Monday that the party’s acting chairman would return on Dec 25 and complete his voter registration shortly afterwards.
He was speaking after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at the Election Commission headquarters at Dhaka’s Agargaon.
Salahuddin said election offices would be open on Saturday, allowing Tarique to complete the process, including obtaining his national identity card.
Addressing the meeting with the chief election commissioner, Salahuddin said several issues related to nomination papers were discussed.
“Maintaining law and order is the responsibility of the government. We want a fair electoral environment. We hope the election environment and the overall situation will continue to improve.”
The Election Commission published the final voter list for the election on Nov 18. The EC also said that only those registered as voters by Oct 31 would be eligible to vote.
The commission, however, has indicated that it retains the authority to allow individuals to register in order to vote or contest the election under specific circumstances.
Bangladesh first introduced a photographic voter list in 2007–08. At the time, BNP leader Tarique Rahman was in prison. After his release in 2008, he travelled to London for medical treatment and did not return to Bangladesh, meaning he never obtained a national identity card.
Following the political transition of 2024, his wife Zubaida Rahman returned to Bangladesh and registered as a voter.
Tarique's passport expired while he was in the UK and was not renewed during the previous Awami League government. There were reports at the time that he had sought political asylum in Britain, though the BNP never confirmed this.
On Feb 8, 2018, the day former prime minister Khaleda Zia was jailed in the Zia Orphanage Trust case, the BNP’s Standing Committee appointed her son Tarique as the party’s acting chairman. For the past seven years, he has led the party from London via video calls.
Following the change of government in August last year, the president granted Khaleda a pardon, and she was later acquitted by the High Court in corruption cases. Convictions handed down to Tarique during the Awami League era were also overturned, clearing the way for his return.
The BNP has since announced a partial list of candidates for the February polls, saying Tarique would contest the Bogura-6 seat for the first time.
The prospect of his return gathered momentum earlier this month, when BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Tarique would return to Bangladesh on Dec 25.
As part of preparations, Tarique obtained a travel pass from the Bangladesh High Commission in London within a single day, party officials said.
