Senior Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader and party stalwart Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was sworn in as the 23rd President of Bangladesh at a ceremony held at Bangabhaban in Dhaka. The oath was administered by Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Kaiser Kamal.

Alamgir, a veteran BNP politician and former General Secretary of the party, was elected President on Thursday after securing 255 votes in the presidential election. He defeated Oli Ahmed, the candidate backed by the 11-party opposition alliance led by the far-right Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the country’s first major student-led political party, National Citizen Party (NCP), who received 88 votes.

The election was significant, as it marked the first time in 35 years that more than one candidate contested Bangladesh’s presidential election. In previous presidential polls, opposition parties had generally not fielded candidates, leaving a single candidate in the race.

The election was necessitated by the resignation of former President Mohammad Shahabuddin, who stepped down from office last month citing serious health complications.