Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman Dies at 85

Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman died last Wednesday in Singapore. He was 85. Pres. Rahman was brought to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore last March 10 for treatment of respiratory and kidney problems.

He was first brought to Dhaka’s Combined Military Hospital for a lung infection, before being rushed by air ambulance to Singapore.

A Long time Member of the Awami League

Rahman was a close associate of Sheikh Mujibar Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh and its first President. Sheikh Mujibar is also the father of the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He has been a long standing and high-ranking member of the Awami League and was installed as President in 2009 following the political party’s win in the December 2008 elections.

His remains will be brought back to Bangladesh on Thursday. The Bangladesh government has declared that starting Thursday there will be three days of mourning. Abdul Hamid, Bangladesh parliamentary speaker will be the acting President until a new president has been named. Bangladesh has a parliamentary system, where the Prime Minister is the head of government and the president acting as the figurehead.

Rahman has been largely credited with keeping the Awami League running since the independence of Bangladesh. In 1971, during the war of liberation, he was arrested and sentenced to 20 years in jail. During the coup of 1975, he was again imprisoned after then President Sheikh Mujibar Rahman and his family was assassinated. Several ranking members of the Awami League were also killed while in jail following the coup. Zillur Rahman was again jailed after the 1986 elections while he was a member of parliament.

Contribution to Bangladesh Democracy

United States Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement that President Rahman’s efforts were of great help in 1971 after the Bangladesh independence and that his decades-long service to the country has helped establish Bangladesh as a democracy.

Ban Ki-moon , the current U.N. Secretary-General also sent his condolences and said that throughout Rahman’s political career, his contributions were of great importance to Bangladesh’s democratic transition.