DHAKA, Bangladesh: After securing an emphatic win for his Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the country's future prime minister, Tarique Rahman, said he would work to build a more democratic country by overcoming challenges related to weak institutions.

Rahman's BNP won a majority in last week's election in the 350-member Parliament. An 11-member alliance led by the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party, will be sitting in the opposition.

Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who died in December, also called for national unity and promised not to harm the country. He said people must stay united to prevent a return of dictatorship and protect the nation's independence.

This was the country's first election since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from power during a mass uprising in 2024. A temporary government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus supervised the mostly peaceful election. The vote showed a big political change in the South Asian country of more than 170 million people.

The new government is expected to take office within a few days.

At his first press conference in the capital, Dhaka, Rahman said his main goals are to improve law and order and strengthen the economy.

He told reporters that the country is starting a new phase while facing economic problems left by the previous authoritarian government, weak institutions, and worsening public safety.

Rahman's party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is one of the country's major political groups, along with Hasina's now-banned Awami League. Hasina had been accused of becoming increasingly authoritarian during her 15 years in power. In recent years, the BNP refused to participate in elections held under her leadership. 

She has been living in exile in India since her removal and has been convicted for the killings during the weeks-long uprising. Bangladesh has been demanding that Hasina be sent back to face imprisonment.