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Bangladesh's parliament was yesterday set to elect the country's new president, with Bangladesh Nationalist (BNP) Party Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expected to take the largely ceremonial position. Alamgir is expected to sweep the afternoon vote for the five-year post to become the 23rd president of the country of 170 million people. "I never thought that I would become the president — it is the infinite grace of the party and almighty Allah," he said. "Even after becoming president, I wish to remain beside the people and serve them."
Photo: Reuters Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's BNP won a landslide victory in February in the first elections since the 2024 revolution ousted the government of Sheikh Hasina. The vote follows the resignation last month of former Bangladeshi president Mohammed Shahabuddin, a close ally of Hasina who had faced pressure to quit. Shahabuddin was elected in 2023 and stepped down citing ill health, cutting his term short ahead of its 2028 end. Hasina remains in hiding in India, having refused to attend her trial in Dhaka — where in November last year she was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to be hanged. Rights groups had long accused Hasina's administration of abuses including the murder of rivals, suppression of opposition parties, rigged courts and one-sided elections. Alamgir faces one other candidate, Oli Ahmed, nominated by the opposition 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami. Voting was expected to begin about 2pm. Born on Jan. 26, 1948, Alamgir entered politics while studying economics at Dhaka University. He was a key student leader in the 1969 uprising opposing military rule by Pakistan, a stepping-stone toward Bangladesh's eventual independence in 1971. After teaching economics, he entered government service, then politics, with posts including minister of agriculture, aviation and tourism. He rose to prominence as an opposition leader during Hasina's iron-fisted rule — while BNP head Khaleda Zia was in prison and her son Rahman was in exile. Alamgir was himself repeatedly arrested under Hasina's government, facing dozens of charges he said were politically motivated. BSS said he had been praised for "keeping the BNP organized and maintaining the party's political presence during difficult times."
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