Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir takes oath as Bangladesh’s President

• Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was sworn in as Bangladesh’s President on August 21.

• He is the 23rd President of Bangladesh.

• Alamgir, 78, 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 the State.

• The BNP returned to power in February 2026, following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government in August 2024. 

• 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.

• In line with the constitution, Alamgir is to serve largely as the titular Head of the State, entrusted with absolute power to appoint the next 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.

• After assuming the office of the president, Alamgir administered the oath of office to the five new faces in the Cabinet. 

• The Cabinet now has 55 members, including the Prime Minister.

First presidential election in 35 years

• The presidential election was necessitated after Mohammed Shahabuddin, a close aide of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned in July on health grounds before completing his five-year tenure.

• Under the country’s 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.

• Alamgir, a close ally of former PM Khaleda Zia, defeated his lone rival Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed, the nominee of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance.

• 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.

• Alamgir secured 255 votes while Oli Ahmad bagged 88 votes.

• The BNP currently commands a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Who is Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir?

• 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.

• 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 PM Zia and the absence of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, who was abroad at the time.

• When the BNP returned to power this year, Alamgir was made the local government minister.