Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir elected Bangladesh president
Bangladesh on Thursday elected veteran Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as its 23rd president, with the longtime party secretary general defeating his lone challenger in the country's first contested presidential election in 35 years.
Alamgir, 78, secured 255 votes against 88 won by Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed, 84, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance, Chief Election Commissioner and Returning Officer AMM Nasir Uddin announced after counting.
Of the 349 registered lawmakers, 343 cast their votes while six did not participate in the election.
Alamgir is scheduled to take oath as president on Friday, August 21, evening at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban.
The election was the first contested presidential poll in Bangladesh since 1991. The post has largely been filled through consensus or uncontested elections in the years since.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman congratulated Alamgir on his victory, while lawmakers welcomed the result by thumping their desks.
According to the state-run BSS news agency, opposition lawmakers, including Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman and Deputy Leader Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, approached the treasury bench after the result. Alamgir then came forward and embraced Rahman.
The election was held following the resignation of Mohammed Shahabuddin, a close aide of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who stepped down last month on health grounds before completing his five-year term.
The Constitution requires a new president to be elected within 90 days of the post falling vacant. Parliamentary Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad is currently serving as acting president.
Under Bangladesh's constitutional system, the president is elected by Members of Parliament.
The BNP, which came to power in the February 12 elections, holds a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Alamgir had pledged a day before the election that he would not compromise on Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty.
He has been among the BNP's leading figures for more than two decades. He served as the party's acting secretary general from 2011 before formally taking charge as secretary general in 2016.
He played a key role in running the party during the imprisonment of its then-chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia and the absence of Tarique Rahman, who was abroad at the time.
The presidency is largely ceremonial under Bangladesh's parliamentary system, although the office has constitutional powers including the appointment of the prime minister and the chief justice.
The president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, though these powers are generally exercised on the advice of the prime minister.
Political analysts have said the presidency could acquire greater importance under the caretaker government system recently reintroduced to oversee general elections, as the president's role in commanding the armed forces would become more significant during such a period.
They also viewed Alamgir's election as a calculated move by the BNP, which had promised in its election manifesto to strengthen the president's powers through constitutional amendments.
An economist by training, Alamgir entered politics as a left-leaning student activist when Bangladesh was still East Pakistan. Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan in 1971 with India's support.
He joined the BNP in the early 1990s and later served as state minister for agriculture and civil aviation.
After the BNP returned to power in the February 12 elections this year, Alamgir was appointed local government minister.
