DHAKA, Jan 6: Sheikh Hasina Wajed was sworn in for her second spell as Bangladesh’s prime minister on Tuesday, restoring democracy to the impoverished country after almost two years of rule by an army-backed regime.

President Iajuddin Ahmed gave the oath at the presidential palace here in a ceremony broadcast live on television, as thousands of supporters gathered outside and around giant TV screens set up around the capital.

“I solemnly swear as the prime minister of Bangladesh, I will legally perform my job and act loyally to Bangladesh,” said Sheikh Hasina, 61, who was greeted with rapturous applause as she entered the palace.

The chief of the powerful army, General Moeen U. Ahmed, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus joined some 1,000 foreign diplomats, government officials and members of parliament at the ceremony.

Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party won a landslide victory in general elections last week that were hailed as “free and fair” by independent observers.

Campaigning and voting for the elections was generally peaceful, in marked contrast to the unrest that caused polls to be cancelled in 2007, when at least 35 people died in violence over allegations of vote rigging.

The unrest brought Bangladesh to a standstill, leading to a state of emergency as the army stepped in to impose an interim authority that held power until Tuesday’s ceremony.

The Awami League won 230 seats out of 300, giving her a clear majority to govern without forming a coalition.

However, the new prime minister, who also ruled between 1996 and 2001, has indicated she wants to end the confrontational politics that has paralysed Bangladeshi politics for decades.

“I feel in the parliamentary system we can work together. I am ready to work with everyone,” she said following her victory.

Both Hasina and her bitter rival Khaleda Zia, who is also an ex-premier and leads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), were jailed for a year by the outgoing army-backed government on corruption charges.

After initially rejecting the election results, Khaleda Zia said she would work with Sheikh Hasina — though she stood by allegations of voter fraud and snubbed Tuesday’s ceremony.

The women, nicknamed the “battling Begums” for their intense personal rivalry, have dominated Bangladesh’s political scene since 1990.

Authorities tried to exile the two, but failed and later released them so they could take part in last week’s elections.

Held under tight security, the first polls since 2001 attracted a turnout of 87 per cent, with both leaders seeking to woo voters by expressing remorse over their past records.

One corruption charge against Sheikh Hasina, over the alleged extortion of 30 million taka (440,000 dollars) from a power company chief, was dropped only on Monday.

She still faces around 10 cases, according to her lawyer, including a charge of murder over the deaths of opposition party workers in the violent street protests two years ago.

Sheikh Hasina is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country’s struggle for independence in 1971, and was previously in power herself from 1996 to 2001.

She has vowed to make the fight against poverty the priority of her administration. “I have just assumed a very big responsibility,” she said in brief comments after her swearing-in. “My priorities will include ensuring law and order, and bringing (commodity) prices down.”

Bangladesh is one of the poorest nations on the planet with 40 per cent of its 144 million people living on less than a dollar a day.—AFP