Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu elected Bangladesh's 22nd President

Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu, a former judge and freedom fighter, was elected unopposed as the 22nd President of Bangladesh. The 74-year-old Chuppa will replace President Mohammad Abdul Hamid, according to the country's main election commission. The development came after Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal examined the nomination papers and declared Chuppa, a member of the Awami League advisory council and the party's candidate for the newly elected president of Bangladesh, unopposed.

A gazette was issued on Monday appointing the new Bangladesh President as the Chief Election Commissioner. The term of incumbent Hamid, Bangladesh's longest-serving president, ends on April 23 and he cannot serve a third term under the constitution. A senior Awami League leader and seven-time lawmaker, Hamid was elected as Bangladesh's president in the last two elections. He was sworn in for a second term on 24 April 2018.

Hamid greeted the president-elect by phone and wished him success on Monday, the president's press secretary said. After his retirement as a district and sessions judge, Chuppu served as one of the commissioners of the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission. He later entered politics and became a member of the Awami League Advisory Council, which consists of senior party leaders and technocrats. However, Chuppu will have to give up his party post to become the titular head of state.

Born in the northwestern district of Pabna, Chuppu was a leader of the student and youth wings of the Awami League in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He also took part in the 1971 Liberation War and was jailed for leading a protest following the assassination of Bangladesh founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman - Prime Minister Hasina's father - on 15 August 1975 in a military coup along with most of his family. members. Chuppu served as the coordinator of the Bangabandhu assassination trial when the Awami League returned to power in the 1996 elections.