Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir sworn in as 23rd President of Bangladesh

POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Aug 21, 2026 : Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was sworn in as the 23rd President of Bangladesh. This ‘gentleman’ politician, who rose from the grassroots to become the leader of the BNP’s troubled times, has now assumed the highest office of the state.
He took the oath at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban on Friday evening. Acting Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Kaiser Kamal administered the oath. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and several hundred guests, including ministers and state ministers, were present at the event. The event was conducted by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Gani.
Md. Shahabuddin, who assumed the office of President during the Awami League era, resigned on July 24, 2026.
Earlier, Mirza Fakhrul, who had been serving as BNP Secretary General and Local Government Minister, was elected President through a vote in the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday.
In this presidential election held after a long three and a half decades, Mirza Fakhrul received 255 votes as the BNP candidate. His opponent, Oli Ahmed, the candidate of the 11-party unity led by Jamaat-e-Islami, received 88 votes.
Mirza Fakhrul entered Bangabhaban around 7 pm on Friday to attend the swearing-in ceremony. Then he entered the Durbar Hall along with the acting President and the Prime Minister. As soon as he stood in front of his seat on the Durbar Hall stage, members of the band performed the national anthem on musical instruments.
Then Speaker Kaiser Kamal administered the oath to the President. After taking the oath, the new President and the outgoing Acting President changed their seats.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, his wife Zubaida Rahman, former interim government chief advisor Muhammad Yunus, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s wife Rahat Ara Begum, late Arafat Rahman Koko’s wife Syeda Shamila Rahman and the Prime Minister’s daughter Zaima Rahman were seated in the front row of the Durbar Hall at the swearing-in ceremony.
Chief Justice Zubair Rahman Chowdhury, Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Shafiqur Rahman, BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmud Tuku, Social Welfare Minister AZM Zahid Hossain, Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moin Khan were also seen in the front row.
In the second row were Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman, Air Chief Hasan Mahmud Khan and Navy Chief Khondaker Mizbah-ul-Azeem.
In this row were Nagorik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) Chairman Mustafa Jamal Haider, Bangladesh Revolutionary Workers Party’s Saiful Haque and Bangladesh Jatiya Party Chairman Andaliv Rahman Partha.
BNP Standing Committee Members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Selima Rahman, Chairman’s Advisory Council Member Barkat Ullah Bulu, Joint Secretary General Khairul Kabir Khokon, Habib Un Nabi Khan Sohal, cabinet members, members of parliament and people from various professions were among the guests.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was born on January 26, 1948 in Thakurgaon. He was a former Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry. He served as the Secretary General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for the longest time. In the 2001 eighth national parliamentary election, he was elected as a member of parliament from Thakurgaon-1 on the nomination of the BNP and served first as the Minister of Agriculture and later as the State Minister of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
His father’s name is Mirza Ruhul Amin and mother’s name is Mirza Fatema Amin. During his educational career, Mirza Fakhrul passed his Higher Secondary from Dhaka College and obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Economics from Dhaka University.
After passing the BCS examination in 1972, he joined the teaching profession in the Department of Economics at Dhaka College in the Education Cadre. Later, he taught in several government colleges.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was involved in active student politics at Dhaka University. He was a member of the then East Pakistan Students Union (now Bangladesh Students Union) and was elected General Secretary of the organization’s S.M. Hall branch. During the 1969 uprising, he was the president of the organization’s Dhaka University branch.
In 1986, Mirza Fakhrul resigned from his teaching profession and actively entered politics ahead of the municipal elections. He participated in the 1988 Thakurgaon municipal elections and was elected as the chairman of the municipality. When the nationwide movement was going on to overthrow General Ershad’s military government, Mirza Fakhrul joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. In 1992, Mirza Fakhrul was elected the president of the Thakurgaon district branch of the BNP. At the same time, he served as the vice-president of the Bangladesh Nationalist Farmers’ Party.
In December 2009, Mirza Fakhrul was elected as the senior joint secretary general of the BNP at the 5th national conference of the BNP. On 13 August 2026, he became the secretary general of the BNP after serving for 16 years before submitting his nomination papers for the presidency of Bangladesh.