Dhaka, April 22:
Abdul Hamid is set to become Bangladesh's 20th president after no other
nomination was filed in the election to replace President Zillur Rahman, who died last month in
a Singapore hospital, election authorities here said on Monday. Chief Election Commissioner
Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said only one nomination paper had been filed for the presidency and
it was on behalf of Hamid. The ruling Awami League party, which has an overwhelming
parliamentary majority, nominated Hamid on Sunday. No parliamentary ballot, required for the
largely ceremonial position of the President and which was scheduled for April 29, would not
take place owing to the absence of a second candidate, he said. Hamid has been the acting
president since March 14, when Rahman went for medical treatment in Singapore. The latter
passed away on March 20. The date of the swearing-in of the president and the beginning of
his five-year term has not been fixed yet. Hamid, 72, is a former lawyer and was elected to the
parliament seven times from Kishoreganj, 100 kilometres from Dhaka, and is serving his
second term as the speaker of the parliament. He had joined politics as a student in the late
1950s and became a member of the Awami League in 1969. He was given the Independence
Award for his role in Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan
Abdul Hamid is set to become Bangladesh's 20th president after no other
nomination was filed in the election to replace President Zillur Rahman, who died last month in
a Singapore hospital, election authorities here said on Monday. Chief Election Commissioner
Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad said only one nomination paper had been filed for the presidency and
it was on behalf of Hamid. The ruling Awami League party, which has an overwhelming
parliamentary majority, nominated Hamid on Sunday. No parliamentary ballot, required for the
largely ceremonial position of the President and which was scheduled for April 29, would not
take place owing to the absence of a second candidate, he said. Hamid has been the acting
president since March 14, when Rahman went for medical treatment in Singapore. The latter
passed away on March 20. The date of the swearing-in of the president and the beginning of
his five-year term has not been fixed yet. Hamid, 72, is a former lawyer and was elected to the
parliament seven times from Kishoreganj, 100 kilometres from Dhaka, and is serving his
second term as the speaker of the parliament. He had joined politics as a student in the late
1950s and became a member of the Awami League in 1969. He was given the Independence
Award for his role in Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war against Pakistan
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