Bangladesh elects ruling party veteran Alamgir as president | Elections News

Bangladesh elects Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir by parliamentary vote, filling emptiness after Shahabuddin’s early resignation.

Members of parliament in Bangladesh have elected ruling social gathering veteran Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the following president, following the untimely resignation of the previous president for well being causes.

Seventy-eight-year outdated Alamgir from the Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP) was declared the winner after a 255-to-88 parliamentary vote on Thursday. He defeated Oli Ahmed, 84, a retired military colonel, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Celebration and candidate of the 11-party opposition alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami.

“I dream of a contented, affluent and welfare-oriented state the place marginalised communities, hard-working individuals and day by day wage earners can afford meals twice a day,” Alamgir stated earlier than the vote, in response to the state information company BSS.

After the autumn of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League authorities in 2024 following youth protests, the BNP returned to energy, successful a two-thirds majority in parliament and electing Tarique Rahman as prime minister after the February 12 common election.

Late final month, 76-year-old President Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned two years before the end of his full term citing well being issues. The vote was on Thursday because the structure requires a brand new president to be elected inside 90 days.

The presidency, whereas largely ceremonial, serves as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Alamgir joined the BNP within the early Nineties after getting into politics whereas finding out economics at Dhaka College and turning into a essential scholar chief within the 1969 rebellion opposing Pakistan’s army rule.

He rose to prominence, turning into one of many best-known nationwide leaders throughout Hasina’s rule. He was repeatedly arrested, which he says was politically motivated.

Alamgir most lately served as native authorities minister however has held a number of ministerial posts, together with minister of agriculture, aviation and tourism.

Shahabuddin was elected president in 2023 on the peak of the Awami League’s energy. A detailed ally to Hasina and dealing with rising stress from opposition events to step down, Shahabuddin introduced that he was significantly unwell and resigned on July 24.

Hasina fled Bangladesh after the mass rebellion that ousted her authorities in 2024. She has since been residing in India however has stated that she intends to return dwelling in December.