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Leader of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami and prime ministerial hopeful Shafiqur Rahman. Photo: AFP
DHAKA:
The leader of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami and prime ministerial hopeful Shafiqur Rahman has contested three elections and lost. This time, he hopes to finally win.
Voters in the nation will head to the polls on Thursday for the first time since a 2024 uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina, who in her 15 years as prime minister crushed Islamist movements.
Now, Rahman, a 67-year-old doctor and preacher, hopes his 11-party alliance could deliver him victory.
“I stand for moral renewal in society,” Rahman vowed in election promises.
If successful, the former political prisoner could form the first Islamist-led government in constitutionally secular Bangladesh.
Dressed entirely in white, including a flowing white beard, he cuts a distinctive figure on the campaign trail — where Jamaat-e-Islami has put forward only male candidates.
“Good governance is the foundation of stability, peace and prosperity,” he said, pledging rule-based and corruption-free leadership.
Ex-prime minister Hasina, who is close to the Hindu-nationalist government of neighbouring India, went after Islamist supporters and cracked down on extremists, killing scores and arresting hundreds.
Since her fall, key Islamist leaders have been released from prison.
Born in 1958 in the northeastern district of Moulvibazar, Rahman has been a longtime party activist, running first for parliament in 1996, then again in 2001 and 2018.
His wife, Ameena Shafiq, is also a doctor, who was selected for one of the seats in parliament reserved for women in 2018.
Their two daughters and son are also doctors
