DHAKA: Bangladeshi lawmakers elected veteran Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration chief Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir because the nation’s new president on Thursday, making the longtime opposition determine the pinnacle of state after his celebration got here to energy in a serious political transition.
The BNP returned to energy in February within the lengthy wake of the autumn of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League authorities in 2024. Whereas the presidency is basically ceremonial, Alamgir will serve as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Government authority stays with the prime minister and cupboard within the South Asian nation of about 173 million folks.
Alamgir, 78, defeated Oli Ahmed, a retired military colonel and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Celebration and candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance, in a parliamentary vote.
Chief Election Commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin declared Alamgir the winner after the 255-to-88 vote.
The BNP and its allies maintain a two-thirds majority in parliament after successful the February 12 common election, which returned the celebration to energy after years in opposition and introduced Tarique Rahman to the workplace of prime minister.
The resignation final month of Mohammed Shahabuddin on well being grounds earlier than the top of his five-year time period triggered the presidential election.
A former Awami League politician and shut confidant of Hasina, Shahabuddin was elected president in 2023 when her celebration was on the top of its energy.
Hasina has been residing in India since fleeing Bangladesh after a mass rebellion ousted her authorities in August 2024 and has mentioned that she intends to return in December this 12 months.
One of many BNP’s longest-serving leaders, Alamgir served because the celebration’s secretary-general from 2016 till his nomination for the presidency.
Throughout Hasina’s rule, he grew to become one of many opposition’s most distinguished voices and confronted repeated arrests and a sequence of authorized instances.
Alamgir started his profession as a instructor after finding out economics on the College of Dhaka. He joined the BNP within the early Nineteen Nineties and rose steadily via the celebration ranks to turn into certainly one of its best-known nationwide leaders.
Over the course of his political profession, he held a number of ministerial posts, most just lately serving as native authorities minister earlier than stepping down following his nomination for the presidency.
He’s anticipated to be sworn in on Friday night.
