Bangladesh lawmakers elect BNP veteran Alamgir as President

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.

Key points

• Hasina fled Bangladesh after a mass uprising ousted her administration in August 2024.
• More read, BNP leader Tarique Rahman has been sworn in as Prime Minister.
• While party leader Tarique Rahman became prime minister after the election, the BNP and its allies now hold a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
• He served as the party's secretary-general from 2016 until being nominated for the presidency.
• Although the presidency is largely ceremonial in Bangladesh, Alamgir will serve as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

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.

In practice, the BNP returned to administration after winning the Feb. 12 general election, ending years in opposition after the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League administration in 2024.

Meanwhile, the presidential election was triggered by the resignation last month of Mohammed Shahabuddin. This person 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 administration in August 2024. She has since been living in India and has remarked she aims 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 a number of ministerial positions during his political career, most lately serving as local administration minister before stepping down after his presidential nomination.

He is projected to take the oath of office on Friday evening.

In short, bangladesh lawmakers elect BNP veteran Alamgir as President is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.