DHAKA (Kashmir English): Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a senior leader of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has become the new President of Bangladesh.
Although the presidency is largely a ceremonial position, Mirza Alamgir will now serve as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while the country’s executive powers will continue to rest with the prime minister and cabinet.
The BNP returned to power in February this year after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in 2024.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, 78, defeated retired army colonel, Liberal Democratic Party chairman and candidate of the 11-party opposition alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami, Ali Ahmed in the parliamentary vote.
It should be noted that the BNP and its allies have a two-thirds majority in parliament after winning the general elections on February 12 this year.
The presidential election came after former President Muhammad Shahabuddin resigned last month before the end of his five-year term due to ill health. Shahabuddin, a former Awami League politician and close aide of Hasina Wajid, was elected president in 2023.
According to the news agency, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a senior BNP leader who served as the party’s secretary general from 2016 until his presidential nomination, emerged as a powerful voice of the opposition during Hasina Wajid’s government, for which he faced several arrests and cases.
