Bangabhaban ready for president’s swearing-in, 4 new cabinet members to take oath

Bangabhaban, official residence of President, is ready for two swearing-in ceremonies. First, at 7:30 pm, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will take oath as the country’s 23rd president. The newly elected president will then administer the oath to four new members of the cabinet.

Acting Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Kayser Kamal will administer the oath to the newly elected president. The president, in turn, will administer the oath to the four new cabinet members then.

Sources at Bangabhaban and the Cabinet Division said Acting President Hafiz Uddin Ahmad will arrive at Bangabhaban first, followed by newly elected President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. They will then enter the Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban.

Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani will conduct the presidential swearing-in ceremony. After the national anthem and recitation from the Quran, the Speaker will administer the oath to the president.

Sources at Bangabhaban and the Cabinet Division said around 1,500 invitations have been distributed for the ceremony.

According to the protocol followed at Bangabhaban, after taking the oath as president, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will sit down to sign the oath book. The newly elected president and Acting Speaker Kayser Kamal will sit side by side at the time.

After completing the formalities of signing, the new president will move to the chair in the middle. From that moment, he will formally assume the office of president. Major Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Kayser Kamal will then sit on either side of him.

The national anthem will be played again after the swearing-in ceremony, followed by a reception.

Mohammad Shahabuddin resigned as president on 24 July. In accordance with the Constitution, Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad assumed the duties of president, while Deputy Speaker Kayser Kamal took over as speaker.

The election for the new president was held in the chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday, Thursday. Bangladesh nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was elected with 255 votes, while Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmad, the candidate of an 11-party alliance, received 88 votes.

After taking the presidential oath in the evening, newly elected President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will administer the oath to the four new members joining the cabinet. Three of them will be full ministers and one a state minister. Vehicles have also been arranged for them.

President’s Press Secretary Md Sarwar Alam told Prothom Alo that all preparations for the presidential swearing-in ceremony had been completed. “We are now busy with the final preparations,” he said.