Khalilur hints at continuing as FM alongside UNGA presidency

President-elect of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman on Thursday indicated he may continue to discharge his responsibilities in both capacities concurrently, citing the example Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury, the last Bangladeshi before him to be elected UNGA president.

The foreign minister dedicated the victory to Bangladesh’s future, as the country reclaimed the post four decades later.

“Will I leave this (foreign minister’s) job? Is that the question? Don’t be so hurried. There is precedence,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while responding to a question.

Dr Khalilur noted that Bangladesh last held the prestigious position forty years ago (1986-87), when then Foreign Minister Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury was elected President of the 41st General Assembly.

“I was his private secretary and we worked with him. He worked in both posts full-time,” Dr Khalilur said.

Those who follow foreign affairs have been informally discussing whether Dr Khalilur would step down from his current responsibilities as Bangladesh's Foreign Minister to serve full-time at the UN, or attempt to carry out both roles simultaneously.

The foreign minister, however, made it clear during an informal interactive dialogue at the UN on 13 May that resignation is not the only option.

“Will I resign? No, my Prime Minister (Tarique Rahman) has told me very clearly that he's going to let me off for one year to do a full-time job. Resignation is not the only option. I can get a leave,” he had said while responding to a question during the informal dialogue.

There have been instances in the past where foreign ministers simultaneously served as President of the United Nations General Assembly while retaining their ministerial portfolios.

For example, Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives concurrently served as the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs while serving as President of the 76th session of the UNGA in 2021.

Khalilur Rahman’s presidency will coincide with one of the most consequential processes on the UN calendar - the selection of Secretary-General António Guterres’s successor, whose term ends on 31 December 2026.

The 81st session will open on 8 September, with world leaders gathering two weeks later for the annual high-level debate at UN Headquarters, in New York.

In a secret-ballot election, Dr Khalilur secured 99 votes to Kakouris’s 91. A total of 190 ballots were cast, with no invalid votes or abstentions. Three countries did not vote.

Describing the election for the Presidency of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) as “highly contested,” Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir earler said Bangladesh, as a soft power, will play a positive role in promoting global stability.