Bangladesh Lawmakers Elect BNP’s Alamgir as President
DHAKA, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Bangladeshi lawmakers on Thursday elected Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a senior leader of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, as the country’s next president, a move that puts a veteran opposition figure into the head of state’s office as the BNP consolidates its return to power.
Alamgir, 78, won 255 votes in a parliamentary ballot, against 88 for Oli Ahmed, a retired army colonel and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party who ran as the candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance. Chief Election Commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin declared Alamgir the winner.
The presidency in Bangladesh carries largely ceremonial duties, though the office remains that of head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Executive power is held by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and the cabinet, which commands a two-thirds majority in parliament after the BNP-led alliance won the February 12 general election.
The vote was triggered by the resignation last month of Mohammed Shahabuddin, who stepped down on health grounds before completing his five-year term. Shahabuddin, a former Awami League politician and close associate of Sheikh Hasina, was elected president in 2023 when her party was in power. Hasina has been living in India since a mass uprising forced her from office in August 2024 and has said she plans to return to Bangladesh in December.
Alamgir was one of the opposition’s most recognizable faces during Hasina’s rule. He served as the BNP’s secretary-general from 2016 until his nomination for the presidency, and over those years faced repeated arrests and a series of legal cases. A former teacher who studied economics at the University of Dhaka, he joined the BNP in the early 1990s and rose steadily through its ranks. He later held several ministerial portfolios, most recently as local government minister.
He is expected to be sworn in on Friday evening.
Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by YP Rajesh and Hugh Lawson