| A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury এ. কিউ. এম. বদরুদ্দোজা চৌধুরী |
|
|---|---|
| President of Bangladesh | |
| In office 14 November 2001 – 21 June 2002 |
|
| Prime Minister | Khaleda Zia |
| Preceded by | Shahabuddin Ahmed |
| Succeeded by | Muhammad Jamiruddin Sarkar (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 November 1932 Bikrampur, British Raj (now Munshiganj, Bangladesh) |
| Political party | Bangladesh Nationalist Party (1978–2002) Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (2004–present) Grand Alliance (2008–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
Four Party Alliance (2001–2003) |
| Children | Mahi B. Chowdhury |
Dr A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury (Bengali: এ.কিউ.এম. বদরুদ্দোজা চৌধুরী; born November 1, 1932, Bikrampur, Dhaka, Bangladesh) was the 15th president of Bangladesh[1] and founding secretary-general of Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[2]
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His father, Kafiluddin Chowdhury, was a political leader of Awami League and served as Minister in provincial cabinet of the then East Pakistan. Being inspired by Ziaur Rahman, the founder chairman of the party, he entered into politics as the Secretary General of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) during its early years. He won the parliament election of 1979 as a BNP nominee from Munshigan and served as cabinet minister during the years 1979-1982. When the Bangladesh Nationalist Party again won parliamentary elections in 1991, after a short stint as Education Minister, he was appointed Deputy Leader of the House of Bangladesh parliament under the leadership of Begum Khaleda Zia.[1]
In 2001, during the second spell of Khaleda Zia's premiership, Chowdhury became foreign minister of Bangladesh. Shortly afterward, in November 2001, he became the President of Bangladesh. After a short stint of seven months, he decided not to visit BNP party leader and long-time-colleague Ziaur Rahman's grave on his death anniversary, trying to stay neutral.[2][3] Party leaders accused the President of betraying the party. It was expected that the BNP-majority parliament would start an impeachment process.[4] Hence, Dr Chowdhury resigned from office before the situation could turn any murkier.[4][5]
Dr Chowdhury felt the need of a third force in the de facto two-party democracy in Bangladesh. He expressed recruiting civil society members in politics to fight corruption and terrorism and establish good governance in the country through an alternate stream (lit. Bikalpa Dhara) political party.[6] He, along with his son Mahi B. Chowdhury and BNP parliamentarian M A Mannan resigned from BNP to work for the new political party. Dr Chowdhury was the President, with M A Mannan as the secretary-general of the new party, Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh, formed in March 2004. It had been a strong critic of the government during the time, and most of its members were defects from the ruling BNP.[6] BNP parliamentarian Oli Ahmed too had defected from BNP to join Bikalpa Dhara, but later split to form Liberal Democratic Party.[4] He has been the party's President since its inception, except for a brief period between December 2008[7][8] and April 2009,[9] during which time he had resigned from his post after the party could secure no seats during the 9th parliament elections.[8]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New office | General Secretary of the Nationalist Party 1979–1990 |
Succeeded by Abdus Salam Talukder |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Latifur Rahman |
Minister of Foreign Affairs 2001 |
Succeeded by Morshed Khan |
| Preceded by Shahabuddin Ahmed |
President of Bangladesh 2001–2002 |
Succeeded by Muhammad Jamiruddin Sarkar Acting |
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