Former NCP senior joint member secretary and independent candidate for the 13th parliamentary election Dr Tasnim Jara praised Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir after he was sworn in as president. In a Facebook post published Friday night, she said people like him are rare in Bangladesh’s political arena and expressed hope that his conduct would restore the presidency’s dignity, prestige and stability.

Jara recalled casting her first vote in 2018 after watching a video in which Fakhrul addressed first-time voters and urged them to show they were the country’s owners. She said she saw alleged irregularities at her Khilgaon polling centre that morning. Despite winning his own seat, she wrote, he did not join parliament because he did not want to sit in a legislature formed through a rigged vote.

She described Fakhrul as a strong speaker whose earlier career as a teacher was apparent in his words. Jara said he openly shared political lessons, suggested books and gave her his own books. She also said that, despite imprisonment and efforts by the Awami League government to destroy him, no corruption case had been established against him over 15 years.