Bangladesh elects veteran BNP politician Alamgir as 23rd president

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a veteran Bangladeshi politician, was elected the country's 23rd president on Thursday.

His election by lawmakers capped the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) return to power in a major political transition since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government in 2024.

While the presidency is largely ceremonial, 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 the South Asian nation of about 173 million people.

Alamgir, 78, defeated Oli Ahmed, a retired army colonel and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance, in a parliamentary vote.