Dhaka: Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the nation's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was sworn in as prime minister of Bangladesh for a second time Tuesday following her landslide win in last month's general election.

She was premier previously 1996-2001.

Hasina, 61, took the oath of office from President Iajuddin Ahmed at the ceremony held in Bangabhavan, the presidential palace.

The nine-party Grand Alliance led by her Awami League won 259 seats of the 299 that figured in Bangladesh's ninth general election. The Awami League (AL) alone won 230 seats.

The poll left Hasina's main political rival Begum Khaleda Zia with only 29 seats and Zia's Islamist ally Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) with two. There were four independent winners. The country has a 300 seat parliament. Polling for one was postponed due to the death of a candidate.

A day before being sworn in, Hasina was acquitted by a Dhaka court in a case of corruption instituted against her by the outgoing caretaker government.

Bangladesh's general election was originally scheduled in January 2007. But it was postponed following promulgation of a state of emergency Jan 11, 2007 in the wake of political violence.

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed's caretaker government, backed by the military, had then taken over the reins of the country.

 

Source : IANS