Mohd Shahabuddin Chuppu set to become Bangladesh’s new President

Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu, a former judge and freedom fighter, is set to become Bangladesh’s next president as his party Awami League, which holds an absolute majority in Parliament, has nominated him for the upcoming Presidential election.

The announcement was made by party’s general secretary Obaidul Quader on Sunday.

The 74-year-old former judge may replace Mohammad Abdul Hamid, the longest-serving President of the country, whose tenure will end on April 23. Hamid was elected Bangladesh President in the last two elections. He was sworn in for his second term on April 24, 2018. According to Bangladesh’s constitution, an individual cannot hold a third term as president.

Chuppu would be elected to the top post as unopposed since his name has been nominated by the Awami League, which has 305 seats in the 350-member House. According to Bangladesh’s Constitution, the Presidential election must be held 90 to 60 days before the incumbent’s five-year term ends.

As per the election schedule, nomination papers were allowed to be submitted till 4pm on Sunday. Besides Chuppu, no other candidates filed their nomination for the top post including the opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since all of their lawmakers resigned in December 2022 as part of their anti-government campaign ahead of general elections, news agency PTI reported.

5 things about Mohd Shahabuddin Chuppu:

1. Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu was born in the year 1949 in northwestern Pabna district of East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh). He was a leader of Awami League’s student and youth wings in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

2. Chuppu was also part of Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War and was imprisoned for waging a protest after the assassination of Bangladesh’s founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman- father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

3. In 1982, he was inducted into the country’s judicial service and also served as the coordinator of the Bangabandhu murder trial when Awami League returned to the throne in 1996.

4. He retired as a district and sessions judge. Post his retirement, Chuppu served as one of the commissioners of the independent Anti-Corruption Commission. He later joined politics and became a member of the Awami League Advisory Council.

5. Chuppu’s wife Rebeka Sultana is a former joint secretary of the Bangladesh government.