Khalilur hints at retaining foreign minister role while serving as UNGA president

President-elect of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman today (4 June) indicated that he may continue serving in both capacities simultaneously, pointing to past precedents involving foreign ministers who held the UN post while retaining their government portfolios.

Speaking to reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Rahman referred to the experience of Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury, the last Bangladeshi to serve as UNGA president four decades ago.

“Will I leave this (foreign minister’s) job? Is that the question? Don’t be so hurried. There is precedence,” he said in response to a question.

Dr Rahman dedicated the victory to Bangladesh’s future as the country reclaimed the prestigious position after 40 years.

He noted that Bangladesh last held the presidency of the UN General Assembly in 1986-87, when then Foreign Minister Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury was elected president of the 41st session.

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

His remarks come amid discussions among foreign affairs observers over whether he would relinquish his duties as foreign minister to serve full-time at the United Nations or attempt to manage both roles concurrently.

However, Dr Rahman had already suggested during an informal interactive dialogue at the United Nations on 13 May that stepping down from his ministerial role was 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 said while responding to a question during the dialogue.

There have been precedents of foreign ministers simultaneously serving as president of the UN General Assembly while retaining their ministerial responsibilities. One such example is Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives, who served as the country’s foreign minister while presiding over the 76th session of the UNGA in 2021.

Dr Rahman’s presidency will coincide with one of the most significant events on the UN calendar – the process of selecting a successor to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, whose term ends on 31 December 2026.

The 81st session of the General Assembly will open on 8 September, followed two weeks later by the annual high-level debate at UN Headquarters in New York.

In Tuesday’s secret-ballot election, Dr Rahman secured 99 votes against 91 for Cyprus’s candidate Andreas Kakouris. Of the 190 ballots cast, there were no invalid votes or abstentions, while three member states did not participate in the vote.

Prime Minister’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir earlier described the election as highly competitive and said Bangladesh’s victory reflected the country’s growing role as a soft power on the global stage.

“Bangladesh is a soft power. It is an emerging tiger that engages in international politics from a soft-power perspective, seeking to mediate and influence outcomes for the greater good,” he told reporters in New York shortly after the election result was announced.

Kabir said Bangladesh had taken a bold step by entering the race despite joining the contest relatively late.

“We were confident of the support that our prime minister enjoys, backed by a two-thirds majority of our people. The prime minister gave us the confidence and support to put forward our candidature, despite entering the contest relatively late,” he said.