Hamid takes oath on Wednesday

Abdul Hamid will be sworn in as the 20th President of Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 22 April 2013, 06:02 AM
Updated : 22 April 2013, 06:03 AM

The preparations for the oath-taking ceremony started right after he was elected uncontested.

Cabinet Secretary Md Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters on Monday that they were making preparations for the inauguration of the new President.

When asked about the time of the ceremony, he said, “You will be informed in due time.”

“We have got hints that it may take place on Wednesday,” Mohammad Shafiul Alam, Secretary at the President’s Office, told bdnews24.com.
Shawkat Ali, Acting Speaker of Parliament, will administer the oath to Hamid, said Parliament Secretary Mahfuzur Rahman.
The 69-year old veteran Awami League leader will take over after the post fell vacant following the death of his immediate predecessor, Md. Zillur Rahman on Mar 20.
Hamid was enjoying his second term as the Speaker of Parliament.
He has been the Acting President of the country since Zillur Rahman died in a Singapore hospital on Mar 20.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad announced him as the 20th President of Bangladesh after he turned out to be the only one to have filed his nominations, earmarked for scrutiny on Monday.
“We are announcing Abdul Hamid the 20th President as he is the sole candidate in the presidential election,” said the CEC.
The new President will be in office for the next five years, that is during the tenure of the government that will be elected next.
Hamid’s constituency, Kishoreganj-4, and the post of Speaker will fall vacant the moment he is sworn in as the new President.
A meeting of Awami League’s Parliamentary Party nominated the Speaker as its presidential contender on Sunday. His victory was inevitable even if the Opposition had decided to compete in the election, since the ruling alliance enjoys a decisive two-third majority in the country’s parliament.
Hamid was born in Kamalpur, Mithamoin Upazila on 1944, to parents Hazi Mohammaf Teyebuddin and Tamiza Khatun.
He passed IA and BA from Durudayal College of Kishoreganj and LLB from Central Law College under Dhaka University.
He was President of the Kishoreganj District Bar Association five times during the period 1990 to 1996.
Hamid began his political journey on 1959 after he joined the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student front of Awami League. He was actively involved in the Anti-Ayub movement in 1961 and was eventually imprisoned by the Pakistan government.
In 1963 he was elected the general secretary and in 1965 the Vice- President of the Students’ Union in Gurudayal College of Kishoreganj.
Hamid was the founder president of Chhatra League’s Kishoreganj sub-divisional unit in 1964 and also got elected as the vice president of Chhatra League in Mymensingh district in 1966-1967.
He joined the Awami League in 1969.
In 1970 Abdul Hamid was elected as the junior most member of the National Assembly, from Mymensingh-18 constituency.
He joined Bangladesh’s War of Independence in the following year.
He was awarded the Swadhinata Padak this year for his contributions during the Liberation War.
He was elected from Kishoreganj-5 constituency as a Member of Parliament in the national elections of 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2009.
Hamid was unanimously elected Deputy Speaker in the seventh Parliament on Jul 13, 1996. He later went on to become the Speaker in 2001, Jul 12.
After the 2008 national elections, he was unanimously elected Speaker for the second term.