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Acting President Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed Bir Bikram left Bangabhaban on Thursday, as the country prepared to elect a new president after 35 years.
He left the presidential palace at 1:25pm, after officials and employees of Bangabhaban bade him farewell with flowers.
At the beginning of the farewell ceremony, a smartly turned-out contingent of the armed forces presented him with a guard of honour. Hafizuddin inspected the guard and took the salute before exchanging farewell greetings with officials and other dignitaries present.
The chiefs of the three services, the president’s military and civil secretaries and senior government officials attended the ceremony.
Before leaving, Hafizuddin wished peace, progress and success for the country and the government. He later left the Bangabhaban premises in a motorcade following the prescribed protocol.
A video released later showed the interim president’s motorcade leaving Bangabhaban.
Meanwhile, voting in the presidential election was scheduled to begin at 2pm Thursday, marking the first contested presidential election in 35 years.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is contesting as the BNP candidate, while Oli Ahmed has been named as the candidate of the opposition alliance backed by Jamaat.
Former President Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned on July 24, citing health reasons. Subsequently, under Article 54 of the Constitution, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Hafizuddin Ahmed assumed the duties of interim president.