DHAKA: Bangladeshi lawmakers on Thursday elected veteran Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the country’s new president, elevating the longtime opposition figure to head of state following a major political shift.
Alamgir, 78, defeated Oli Ahmed, a retired army colonel and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party who was nominated by the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance. Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin declared Alamgir the winner after he secured 255 votes to Ahmed’s 88.
Although the presidency is largely ceremonial in Bangladesh, Alamgir will serve as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Executive authority remains with the prime minister and cabinet.
The BNP returned to government after winning the Feb. 12 general election, ending years in opposition following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in 2024.
The BNP and its allies now hold a two-thirds majority in Parliament, while party leader Tarique Rahman became prime minister after the election.
The presidential election 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 ally of Hasina, was elected president in 2023 when the party was in power.
Hasina fled Bangladesh after a mass uprising ousted her government in August 2024. She has since been living in India and has said she plans to return to Bangladesh in December.
Alamgir is one of the BNP’s longest-serving leaders. He served as the party’s secretary-general from 2016 until being nominated for the presidency.
During Hasina’s rule, Alamgir emerged as one of the opposition’s most prominent figures and faced multiple arrests and legal cases.
He began his career as a teacher after studying economics at the University of Dhaka. He joined the BNP in the early 1990s and gradually rose through its ranks to become one of the party’s most prominent national leaders.
Alamgir has held several ministerial positions during his political career, most recently serving as local government minister before stepping down following his presidential nomination.
More read, BNP leader Tarique Rahman has been sworn in as Prime Minister
He is expected to take the oath of office on Friday evening.
