Md Shahabuddin elected 22nd president of Bangladesh

The ruling Awami League-nominated Mohammad Shahabuddin was elected unopposed as the 22nd president of Bangladesh. 

A gazette notification was issued in this regard on Monday evening.

Earlier on Monday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal declared Md Shahabuddin, a retired judge and former commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), as the president-elect as there was no other nomination.

Md Shahabuddin will replace President Abdul Hamid, who will complete his second term on 23 April this year. 

According to Article 123 of the constitution, the presidential election must be held 60 to 90 days before the expiry of each five-year term.

Md Shahabuddin was born in 1949 in Pabna and is a lawyer by profession. He is a member of the party's advisory council. He previously served as a district and sessions judge and ACC commissioner.

He was the convener of Pabna district's Swadhin Bangla Chhatra Shongram Parishad in 1971. He is also a freedom fighter.

He joined the BCS as a judicial cadre in 1982 and was elected as the general secretary of the Judicial Service Association in 1995.

Md Shahabuddin also served as the coordinator appointed by the law ministry in the case filed over the assassination of Bangabandhu.

He served as the chairman of the Judicial Inquiry Commission set up after the 2001 general polls to investigate the murders, rapes and looting and inhumane activities committed by the leaders of the BNP-Jamaat alliance.

Md Shahabuddin had been the president of Pabna District Chhatra League during his student life and was the president of Pabna District Jubo League back in 1974. 

He was imprisoned following the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Majibur Rahman in 1975. 

Shahabuddin was also the election commissioner in the last National Council of the Bangladesh Awami League.