Shahabuddin takes oath as 22nd President of Bangladesh

Mohammed Shahabuddin has taken oath as the 22nd President of Bangladesh today (April 24, 2023).

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury administered the oath at 11 am today. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, cabinet members and hundreds of distinguished guests attended the event. Alongside, family members of the new president, including his wife Dr Rebecca Sultana, attended the function.

Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, members of the parliament, chief election commissioner, Supreme Court judges, political leaders, chiefs of the three services, diplomats, senior journalists, and high-ranking civil and military officials witnessed the event.

Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain conducted the programme. Shahbuddin succeeds Md Abdul Hamid whose second successive term ended yesterday.

Shahabuddin (73) was elected as president unopposed on February 13 this year as a candidate of the ruling Awami League.

During his student life, he served as an activist and president of Pabna Chhatra League and later took over the responsibility of Pabna Jubo League as its president. In 1971, he was the convenor of Swadhin Bangla Chhatra Sangram Parishad of Pabna and also actively participated in the Liberation War.

He was imprisoned following the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

He was later appointed as the Law Ministry's coordinator in the Bangabandhu assassination case.

In 1982, he joined the BCS (Judicial) Department, and in 1995, he was elected general secretary of the Judicial Service Association.

He also served as the chairman of the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which investigated murders, rapes, thefts and other crimes by BNP-Jamaat alliance's activists and leaders following the 2001 general election.

He also worked as a district and sessions judge before retiring in 2006. He was a commissioner at the Anti-Corruption Commission from 2011 to 2016.

Shahabuddin's wife, Prof Dr Rebecca Sultana, is a former joint secretary of the government.