Shahabuddin Ahmed

Shahabuddin Ahmed^[a] (1 February 1930 – 19 March 2022) was a Bangladeshi head of state who served as the president of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001, and the chief justice of Bangladesh from 1990 to 1995.^[1] He previously served as the acting president during 1990–91 when Hussain Muhammad Ershad resigned from the post. He headed a caretaker government and oversaw a general election in February 1991.^[1]

Ahmed was born on 1 February 1930 in Pamal village in Kendua, Netrokona. His father Talukdar Resat Ahmed Bhuiyan was a philanthropist. After passing the matriculation and intermediate examinations he gained admission into the University of Dhaka in 1948, obtained a bachelor's degree in economics in 1951 and a master's in international relations in 1952 as a resident student of Fazlul Haq Hall. He attended a special course in public administration at the University of Oxford.^[2][1]

Ahmed joined the

Ahmed was appointed a judge of the appellate division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 7 February 1980 and was confirmed in this office on 15 April 1981. Ahmed was the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry established under the Commission of Inquiry Act on police firing on the students in mid-February 1983. He was the chairman of the National Pay Commission in 1984 and submitted a report which provided the basis for the upward revision of pay scales.

Ahmed was appointed the chief justice of Bangladesh on 14 January 1990. Following a public agitation which was led by opposition political parties bent on changing the autocratic system of government and the resignation of the government headed by the then president Hussain Muhammad Ershad, on 6 December 1990, the-then vice-president Moudud Ahmed resigned and Ahmed was appointed the new vice-president. Later that day Ershad resigned and Ahmed took over as the acting president of the country.

Ahmed was chosen by all political parties including Ershad to hold the interim government that would oversee the neutral election to parliament.^[1] He administered the oath of office to his council of advisors at Bangabhaban on 9 December 1990 and held the first meeting on 15 December 1990. After the Fifth National Parliamentary Elections held on 27 February 1991, Ahmed handed over the parliamentary ruling power to the newly elected Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. He resigned from the presidency on 9 October 1991 and the next day returned to his previous post of chief justice from which he eventually retired on 1 February 1995.^[1]

Ahmed was elected president unopposed on 23 July 1996 after having been nominated by the

Ahmed was married to Anowara Begum from 1937 to 2018. Together they had two sons and three daughters.[4] In 2008, a lake in Gulshan, Dhaka was named Rastrapati Bicharpati Shahabuddin Ahmed Park after Ahmed.^[5]

In February 2022, Ahmed was taken to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) due to an aging-associated disease.^[6] He died on 19 March 2022 at the Combined Military Hospital at the age of 92.^[7][8] Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed Park in Gulshan was named after him.^[9]