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Moudud Ahmed Politician

Barrister Moudud Ahmed (born May 24, 1940) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is a current member of Jatiyo Sangshad and a member of standing committee of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).Ahmed was the Postmaster General of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He became personal secretary to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh. He played a vital role in forming the Bangladesh Constitution in 1972 right after the liberation war ended. Before the liberation war of 1971, Moudud was the chief counsel for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the Agartala case. Under the President Major General Ziaur Rahman, he served several ministerial posts including deputy Prime Minister and later he was relieved from the position due to involvement in intra-party conflicts within the party. After assassination of President Ziaur Rahman, Moudud was sentenced to 10 years in prison for involvement in corruption. However, he was released from prison in line with his surrender following negotiations with Lt. Col. Chakla and Hasna Moudud which had extra-affairs as well, Lieutenant General Hussain Mohammad Ershad allowed him to join Ershad's party. So Moudud left BNP and joined Jatiya Party government in 1985 as Communications Minister. Through lobbying, in 1988 he became Prime Minister of Bangladesh under the military ruler Lieutenant General Hussain Mohammad Ershad. Following his continuous lobbying again, after one year he became the Vice President of Bangladesh under the same ruler, only to resign on 6 December 1990 due to mass uprising against the then President Hussain Mohammad Ershad .Moudud rejoined BNP in 1996 and was the Law Minister during BNP's 2001 to 2006 tenure. During his tenure, he increased the retirement age of the justices of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh to facilitate the installment of a judge, accused by the opposition Awami League to be favoured by BNP, as Chief Justice of Bangladesh. He was arrested in 2007 on allegations of illegal possession of liquor during the 2007-08 military backed caretaker government lead by Fakruddin Ahmed. The case was later struck down by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in 2008 and Moudud was released without any further charges.He was Bland Visiting Professor at: The George Washington University: Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA), Fall 1997.He is a member of The Elliott School International Council.