Zillur Rahman is Bangladesh's president-elect

Feb 11, 2009, 10:03 GMT

   Dhaka - Bangladesh's elections authorities on Wednesday announced that senior Awami League leader Zillur Rahman, who ran unopposed, is the country's president-elect.

   'As there is no other contender, we declare Zillur Rahman next president of the People's Republic of Bangladesh,' Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda announced at the end of deadline for withdrawal of candidature for the race.

   Zillur, a 79-year-old Awami League veteran, will replace the outgoing president Iajuddin Ahmed.

   He will resign from the party and also from parliament, which elected him the deputy leader of the House, before taking his oath to the presidency Thursday evening for a five-year tenure.

   Chief Justice Ruhul Amin will administer the oath at the Bangababhan presidential palace.

   The president-elect said he would fight for the betterment of poor Bangladeshi people and to make the democratic system more effective.

   'I will try my best to continue my efforts for the betterment of the people and to see a strong democratic system,' he told a small crowd gathered to congratulate him at his private residence.

   Zillur recalled the contributions of his wife, Ivy Rahman, who was among 24 killed in deadly bombings on an anti-terrorism rally in 2004 in Dhaka, for his rise in the political scene. Ivy Rahman was the president of the Awami League's women front.

   Huda said that since Zillur was the only candidate there was no need for voting that had been scheduled for February 16.

   Bangladesh's constitutional provisions stipulate an electoral collage, comprising members of a 300-strong parliament, to elect the president through an open vote if there is more than one candidate.

   The tenure of the outgoing president Iajuddin Ahmed expired in September 2007. But the election could not be held because of a military takeover followed by promulgation of a state of emergency in early January 2007.

   Bangladesh returned to a democratic system early this year following its landmark December 29 general elections, in which the Awami League-led alliance of Sheikh Hasina Wazed won a sweeping victory.

Under the country's British-style parliamentary system, the president is the head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces, but mainly performs ceremonial duties.

   Bangladesh has elected 18 other presidents since its independence in 1971.