BNP veteran elected as BD president
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), speaks during a press conference following the BNP's victory in the 13th general election, at the Hotel Intercontinental, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 14, 2026. REUTERS
Bangladeshi lawmakers elected veteran Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the country's new president on Thursday, making the longtime opposition figure head of state after his party came to power in a major political transition.
Alamgir, 78, defeated retired army Colonel Oli Ahmed in a parliamentary vote. He is expected to be sworn in on Friday evening.
Alamgir defeated Oli Ahmed, a retired army colonel and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, who was the candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance, in a parliamentary vote.