Published : 22 Aug 2026, 01:15 AM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 11:24 AM
Veteran politician Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been sworn in as the 23rd president of Bangladesh.
At 7:30pm on Friday, the newly elected president took the oath of office at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban. Deputy Speaker of the House Kayser Kamal administered the oath.
The arrival of the president-elect was announced with the sound of a bugle. When he entered the hall, the guests stood in his honour.
Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani conducted the ceremony with the permission of Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad.
The ceremony began with the national anthem, followed by a recitation from the Holy Quran.
Fakhrul took the oath of office as president as well as an oath to maintain state secrets.
Seated in the front row during the swearing-in ceremony were Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman; Fakhrul’s wife Rahat Ara Begum; Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury; Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman; BNP Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain; Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury; Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed; Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku; Social Welfare Minister AZM Zahid Hossain; Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman; Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Hasan Mahmood Khan; Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Khondkar Misbah Ul Azim; Nagorik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna; Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) Chairman Mostafa Jamal Haider; Saiful Haque of the Bangladesher Biplobi Workers Party; and Bangladesh Jatiya Party Chairman Barrister Andaleeve Rahman.
Also present were BNP Standing Committee Members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and Selima Rahman; members of the BNP Chairman’s Advisory Council Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Joint Secretary General Khairul Kabir Khokon and Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohail; Deputy Leader of the Opposition Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher; NCP President Nahid Islam; National People’s Party Chairman Fariduzzaman Farhad; Gono Forum President Subrata Chowdhury; Bhasani Janashakti Party Chairman Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Babul; Ganosamhati Andolan Executive Coordinator Abul Hasan Rubel; and Gono Odhikar Parishad General Secretary Hasan Al Mamun.
Members of the Cabinet, members of parliament, business leaders, professionals, teachers, editors, lawyers, engineers and leaders of different political parties were also present at the ceremony.
On Jul 24, Mohammed Shahabuddin, who had been elected president during the Awami League government, stepped down from the post. In the presidential election held on Thursday to fill the vacancy, BNP candidate Fakhrul defeated Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Oli Ahmad by 255 votes to 88 and was elected president.
Before being elected president, Fakhrul served as the secretary general of the BNP and as the minister for local government.
