by Staff Correspondent,

Dhaka – The Election Commission has announced Mohammed Shahabuddin elected unopposed the president of Bangladesh for a five-year tenure, a top election official said on Monday.

Shahabuddin will succeed Abdul Hamid, whose tenure will expire on April 23.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal made the announcement after his team found only one candidate valid in the presidential election, which was slated for voting on February 19.

Members of the 300-strong parliament are voters in the presidential election.

Since Mohammad Shahabuddin is the only candidate, and his nomination paper is found valid, he has been elected to the position of the president of the republic, Awal said.

A gazette notification to this end will be published later in the day.

The ruling Awami League party having more than two-thirds of majority in parliament nominated Shahabuddin as the presidential candidate. Other political parties refrained from contesting the poll.

Bangladesh’s constitution stipulates that the presidential election will be conducted within 60 to 90 days before the completion of the tenure of the incumbent president.

Shahabuddin was born in 1949 in the northern Bangladeshi town of Pabna. He served in the judicial service and retired as a district and sessions judge in 2006.

He then served the Anti-Corruption Commission as one of the commissioners between 2011 and 2016. He was also a member of the ruling Awami League’s advisory council.

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