Bangladesh’s deeply fraught political landscape witnessed a rare moment of camaraderie in parliament yesterday as lawmakers from across the aisle gathered around president-elect Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, offering handshakes and embraces.
The warm reception suggests that his election carries meaning beyond the presidency -- a role that has been largely ceremonial since the restoration of democracy in the country.
It marks the recognition of his resilience in steering the BNP through troubled waters.
Fakhrul’s reputation rests not only on his political acumen but also on his decency and courtesy -- qualities that have set him apart in a political culture often marked by confrontation and personal attacks.
For more than 15 years, under the authoritarian rule of Sheikh Hasina, he held the post of secretary general -- longer than anyone else -- and became the party’s public face.
The 78-year-old veteran politician first became acting secretary general in March 2011 and was formally elected secretary general in 2016. Fakhrul remained in the post until August 13 this year, when he received his party’s nomination for the presidential election.
Those years were anything but easy.
The BNP spent nearly two decades out of government before returning to power in February 2026.
During that period, Tarique Rahman was in London, while Khaleda Zia endured imprisonment, house arrest or prolonged illness. Fakhrul became the bridge between the party’s rank and file and the top leadership.
There were times when many BNP leaders and activists became inactive, went into hiding or were unable to move about publicly. There were also persistent rumours that sections of the party might eventually strike a compromise with the Hasina government.
Fakhrul, however, remained steadfast during those trying years. Like a seasoned captain, he held the party together.
He was arrested at least 11 times, enduring a combined jail term of around three and a half years, with no fewer than 111 cases filed against him during that period, according to sources.
Fakhrul was elected MP from Thakurgaon-1 in the February election. He has also served as minister for local government, rural development and co-operatives.
But his rise to the presidency, and to the cabinet before that, was built over decades.
FROM CAMPUS POLITICS TO BANGABHABAN
Born in Thakurgaon on January 26, 1948, Fakhrul came from a political family. His father, lawyer Ruhul Amin, was a cabinet member, while his uncle Mirza Golam Hafiz served as a cabinet member and later as speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad.
A graduate in economics from Dhaka University, Fakhrul entered politics more than five decades ago as a left-leaning student activist.
In 1969, he played a role in the uprising against the Pakistani military regime and President Ayub Khan, serving as president of the Dhaka University unit of a faction of the East Pakistan Chhatra Union.
After independence, he went into teaching.
He later served as private secretary to then deputy prime minister SA Bari under President Ziaur Rahman.
Leaving government service, Fakhrul was elected chairman of Thakurgaon municipality in 1988 as an independent candidate. He joined the BNP in the early 1990s during the anti-Ershad movement and became president of Thakurgaon district BNP in 1992.
He contested the 1991 and 1996 national elections from Thakurgaon-1 but lost both times. He eventually won the constituency in 2001.
From 2001 to 2006, he served as state minister for both the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
He lost the 2008 parliamentary election.
In the 2018 controversial election, the BNP nominated him from both Thakurgaon-1 and Bogura-6. He won the Bogura-6 seat but did not take the subsequent oath as an MP.
Fakhrul began rising through the party ranks in the mid-2000s.
At the party’s fifth national council in December 2009, he was elected senior joint secretary general. Around the same time, as the Awami League formed the government, Fakhrul increasingly emerged as one of the BNP’s principal public faces.
Following the death of BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain on March 20, 2011, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia appointed Fakhrul acting secretary general.
Five years later, on March 19, 2016, he was formally elected BNP secretary general at the party’s sixth national council.
For the next decade, he would become the face of a party fighting to survive one of the most difficult periods in its history.
In his personal life, Mirza Fakhrul is married to Rahat Ara Begum, who is currently employed at an insurance company. The couple has two daughters, Mirza Shamaruh and Mirza Safaruh.
His younger brother, Mirza Faisal Amin, serves as the general secretary of Thakurgaon district BNP and is the elected chairman of Thakurgaon municipality.
