--- description: Find out why Tarique Rahman is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Tarique Rahman: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte499cc31aadcfe98/69d7cf5b9b249d1eb413d75b/T100-2026-Web-Tarique-Rahman.JPG?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 15, 2026 # Tarique Rahman by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/) ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large  Sarker Protick for TIME Rewind just a few months and [Tarique Rahman](https://time.com/7379429/tariq-rahmans-bangladeshs-economy-china-america/ "undefined") was living a carefree life of exile in leafy southwest London. But the 2024 ousting of Bangladesh’s autocratic Prime Minister [Sheikh Hasina](https://time.com/7334387/sheikh-hasina-bangladesh-prime-minister-sentenced-to-death/ "undefined") propelled the 57-year-old scion from opposition agitator to national leader in waiting—a destiny he fulfilled in February by winning an electoral landslide after 17 years estranged from his homeland. It was a victory that meant Rahman had followed in the footsteps of his mother Khaleda Zia, who was Bangladesh’s first female Prime Minister and who passed away just five days after his return to Dhaka. His grief was still raw when [Rahman sat down with TIME in January](https://time.com/7358216/bangladesh-elections-tarique-rahman-profile/ "undefined"), though he vowed to channel it into unifying his country of 175 million, while getting South Asia’s second biggest economy buzzing again. Bangladesh is beset by high inflation and youth unemployment, and relations with regional superpower India have reached a historic nadir. All require swift remedy. Corruption allegations from the aughts (albeit since quashed by the courts) may mean any honeymoon period will be shorter than most. But after so many years in the wilderness, he’s determined not to waste any more time. “We need to work together, unite,” Rahman says, “so that people can have their political rights.” _Campbell is a TIME editor-at-large_ Tarique Rahman Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/tarique-rahman/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/tarique-rahman/"},"headline":"Tarique Rahman","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:31.642Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/tarique-rahman/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte499cc31aadcfe98/69d7cf5b9b249d1eb413d75b/T100-2026-Web-Tarique-Rahman.JPG?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"creator":"Charlie Campbell","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte499cc31aadcfe98/69d7cf5b9b249d1eb413d75b/T100-2026-Web-Tarique-Rahman.JPG?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/tarique-rahman/","name":"Tarique Rahman"}}]}] ```