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UAE leaders congratulate Bangladesh President Mirza Alamgir on election
Alamgir won 255 votes to become the 23rd president of the South Asian country of 170 million people
- PUBLISHED: Mon 24 Aug 2026, 5:55 PM
- By:
- WAM
Leaders in the UAE sent their well wishes to Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on his election as the President of Bangladesh.
The UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan sent a congratulatory message to Alamgir as he took his constitutional oath as the new President.
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Additionally, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, sent similar congratulatory messages to the new president.
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Lawmakers in Bangladesh elected ruling party veteran Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the country's president on Thursday, a largely ceremonial post left vacant after the early resignation of his predecessor.
Alamgir, 78, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and local government minister, won 255 votes to become the 23rd president of the South Asian country of 170 million people.
The only other candidate, Oli Ahmed, nominated by the opposition 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami, finished with 88 votes, Chief Election Commissioner A M M Nasir Uddin said.
Before the vote, Alamgir had promised to "remain beside the people and serve them" after assuming his new role.
"I never thought that I would become the president — it is the infinite grace of the party and almighty Allah," he told reporters on Tuesday, according to the state news agency BSS.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's BNP won a landslide victory in February, in the first elections since a 2024 uprising ousted the government of Sheikh Hasina.
The presidency vote follows the resignation in July of the previous president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, 76, a close ally of Hasina who had faced pressure to quit.
Widely known as "Chuppu", he was elected in 2023 and stepped down citing ill health. His term was due to end in 2028.
Who is Alamgir?
Born on January 26, 1948, Alamgir entered politics while studying economics at Dhaka University.
He was a key student leader in the 1969 uprising opposing military rule by Pakistan, a stepping-stone towards Bangladesh's eventual independence in 1971.
After teaching economics, he entered government service, then politics, with posts including minister of agriculture, aviation and tourism.
But he rose to prominence as an opposition leader during Hasina's iron-fisted rule — while BNP head Khaleda Zia was in prison and her son Rahman was in exile.
Inputs from AFP