Speaker is acting Bangla President

Dhaka, March 15 (PTI): Bangladesh has appointed parliamentary speaker Abdul Hamid as acting President of as incumbent Zillur Rahman is being treated in Singapore for severe respiratory problem.

“Speaker Advocate Abdul Hamid will discharge the function of President Zillur Rahman in accordance with Article 54 of the Constitution until he (Rahman) resumes his office after treatment,” the state-run BSS news agency reported quoting cabinet secretary M. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan as saying tonight.

The comments by the country’s top bureaucrat came four days after octogenarian Rahman was flown to Singapore in an air ambulance for treatment.

Presidential officials said 84-year-old Rahman was gradually recovering from the respiratory problem.

“He is suffering from severe lung infection. Doctors started removing water from his lung as his condition stabilised a little and he is being given oxygen,” his son Nazmul Hassan Papan earlier told PTI on phone.

Earlier, Rahman had been admitted to a hospital in Dhaka on Saturday after he complained of respiratory problems. Rahman was later sent to Singapore.

Under Bangladesh’s Constitution, the President is the ceremonial head of state but the presidency assumes importance with the general elections, which are due next year. Rahman, a veteran politician was installed as President in 2009 after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League won power.