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Bangladesh President-elect meets outgoing president Hamid at Bangabhaban

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Friday, February 17, 2023

The Jatiya Sangsad building in Dhaka.
Image: Rossi101.

On Tuesday, President-elect of Bangladesh Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu met with outgoing President Mohammad Abdul Hamid at the presidential palace in Dhaka, known as the Bangabhaban. On Monday, the election commission declared Chuppu would become Bangladesh's 22nd president.

An official from the presidential palace told Press Trust of India: "The president-elect met president Hamid and the first lady who greeted him with a bouquet at Bangabhaban this evening (Tuesday) for the courtesy call on." The official also said that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana were also present during Chuppu's visit.

Chuppu was an independent candidate backed by the country's ruling party, the Awami League (AL). He was elected with no opponents for the position.

With 302 members in the Jatiya Sangsad, the national parliament, the AL has the majority in the 350-seat parliament.

The opposition party in the parliament, the Jatiya Party, declined to nominate a candidate for the post. The opposition party outside parliament, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was unable to nominate any candidate after all of its members resigned in December 2022.

The 2023 presidential election was scheduled for February 19 and the nomination process for the presidential election ended on Sunday.

A soldier during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, Chuppu was born in 1949 and hails from the northern Pabna District. In the 1960s and 1970s, Chuppu was a student leader in the AL during the Liberation War. He is an retired district judge and has served as a member of the AL's Advisory Council.

Chuppu's inauguration is scheduled for April 24, 2023.


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