Dhaka: Veteran politician Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was Friday sworn in as Bangladesh’s 23rd President.
Alamgir, a longtime secretary general of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was administered the oath of office by Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament) Acting Speaker Kayser Kamal at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban, the official office-cum-residence of the head of state.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Opposition Leader Shafiqur Rahman, former Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, Cabinet ministers, top army brass and several other officials were present at the oath ceremony.
After assuming the office of the president, 78-year-old Alamgir administered the oath of office to the five new faces in the cabinet. The cabinet now has 55 members, including the prime minister.
BNP’s Shamim Kaiser Lincoln and PM’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir were sworn in as state ministers. Rashiduzzaman Millat, the State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, took the oath in the position of full minister.
BNP Standing Committee Member Abdul Moyeen Khan, Bangladesh Jatiya Party Chairman Andaleeve Rahman, and BNP lawmaker Sa Ching Pru also took the oath as ministers.
Ahead of his oath ceremony, Alamgir visited the graves of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia and offered prayers.
Alamgir, a close ally of former premier Zia, defeated his lone rival Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed, the nominee of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance, in the first contested poll for the post in 35 years on Thursday.
The BNP stalwart secured 255 votes while Oli Ahmad bagged 88 votes.
It was the first contested presidential election in Bangladesh since 1991, as the office had largely been filled through consensus and uncontested polls in recent decades.
The presidential election was necessitated after Mohammed Shahabuddin, a close aide of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned last month on health grounds before completing his five-year tenure.
Under the Constitution, a new president is required to be elected within 90 days of the office falling vacant.
Parliamentary Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad served as acting president, as required under the Constitution following a vacancy in the office.
The BNP, which was voted to power in the February 12 elections, currently commands a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
Ahead of his election, Alamgir had pledged that he would never compromise on the country’s independence and sovereignty.
He had been one of the BNP’s most prominent leaders for more than two decades, having served as acting secretary general from 2011 before formally taking over the post in 2016.
He played a prominent role in leading the BNP during the imprisonment of its then-chairperson and former prime minister Zia and the absence of Rahman, who was abroad at the time.
The president is largely a ceremonial head of state under Bangladesh’s parliamentary system, with key constitutional powers, including appointing the prime minister and the chief justice.
Though the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces, those powers are generally exercised on the advice of the prime minister.
Political analysts, however, said the presidency could assume greater significance under the caretaker government system recently reintroduced to oversee general elections, when the president’s power would increase significantly in commanding the armed forces during such a period.
The analysts also opine that Alamgir’s election could be a well-calculated move of BNP, which in its election manifesto had promised to equip the president with more power by amending the Constitution.
An economist by training, Alamgir made his political debut as a left-leaning student activist when Bangladesh was still East Pakistan. Bangladesh was liberated from Pakistan with India’s help in 1971.
After joining the BNP in the early 90s, Alamgir served as state minister for agriculture and civil aviation.
When the BNP returned to power in the February 12 elections this year, Alamgir was made the local government minister.
