New Delhi, March 30 -- For decades, Bangladesh has oscillated between competitive democracy and dominant-party rule. In 2024, mass protests brought an abrupt end to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's long tenure in power, opening the door to Bangladesh's most consequential election in more than a decade-one that returned the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to power and reshaped the country's political landscape. With Hasina's fall and a new government in office, the country once again stands at a crossroads-testing whether institutional reform and electoral competition can deliver lasting democratic stability. To discuss this new political era, Naomi Hossain was the featured guest on a recent episode of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy co-produced by HT and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Hossain is Global Research Professor in the Department of Development Studies at SOAS University of London. She has researched extensively in Bangladesh and has managed large international studies spanning 20 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. Hossain spoke with host Milan Vaishnav about the abrupt end to Hasina's 15-year rule, the performance of the interim government under Muhammad Yunus, and the prospects for the new Prime Minister, Tarique Rahman. Hossain, the author of the acclaimed 2017 book The Aid Lab: Understanding Bangladesh's Unexpected Success, argued that this year's election did not differ greatly from earlier polls in that it was competitive, even as the Awami League was not allowed to participate. "In many ways, 2026 is a mirror image of the 2008 election that brought Sheikh Hasina to power. After two years of military-backed caretaker rule-a period intended to clean up corruption and reform institutions-she won in a landslide," she explained. "Now, under Tarique Rahman, the BNP has come to power with a huge electoral landslide after almost two years of similar governance reform efforts." Hossain said the turn of events left many Bangladeshis feeling "like we are back where we started" but with a different party in power. Commenting on the performance of the conservative Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, which claimed the position of principal opposition for the first time, Hossain said it was "remarkable" how well the party has managed to recover. She said its performance is a testament to its organisation and clear ideological foundations. Hossain remarked that the party is seen as a clean force-one that could bring a new kind of politics to Bangladesh. Looking ahead, Hossain warned of serious economic headwinds. "People on low incomes-at least half the country-spend 30, 40, maybe 50% of their income on basic food commodities. That is a big issue," she said, noting that the war in West Asia is also likely to push up energy prices. "One of the worst things Sheikh Hasina did was undermine the macro-fiscal stability that Bangladesh had long enjoyed," she posited. "We have quite a significant debt-low by many countries' standards, but high for Bangladesh-that is increasingly hard to sustain because much of it was incurred on really unproductive investments."...