Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a veteran Bangladeshi politician, was elected the country's 23rd president on Thursday.

His election by lawmakers capped the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's (BNP) return to power in a major political transition since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government in 2024.

While the presidency is largely ceremonial, Alamgir will serve as head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Executive authority remains with the prime minister and cabinet in the South Asian nation of about 173 million people.

Alamgir, 78, defeated Oli Ahmed, a retired army colonel and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance, in a parliamentary vote.

Chief Election Commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin declared Alamgir the winner after ⁠the ⁠255-to-88 vote.

The BNP and its allies hold a two-thirds majority in parliament after winning the Feb. 12 general election, which returned the party to power after years in opposition and brought Tarique Rahman to the office of prime minister.

The resignation last month of Mohammed Shahabuddin on health grounds before the end of his five-year term triggered the presidential election.

A former Awami League politician and close confidant of Hasina, Shahabuddin was elected president in 2023 when ⁠her party was at the height of its power.

Hasina has been living in India after a mass uprising ousted her government in August 2024 and has ​said that she intends to return in December this year.

One of the BNP's longest-serving ​leaders, Alamgir served as the party's secretary-general from 2016 until his nomination for the presidency.

During Hasina's rule, he became one of the opposition's most ⁠prominent ‌voices and ‌faced repeated arrests and a series of legal cases.

Alamgir began ⁠his career as a teacher after studying economics ‌at the University of Dhaka. He joined the BNP in the early 1990s and rose ​steadily through the party ranks ⁠to become one of its best-known national leaders.

Over the course ⁠of his political career, he held several ministerial posts, most recently serving as ⁠local government minister before ​stepping down following his nomination for the presidency.

He is expected to be sworn in on Friday evening.