Abu Hena Mohammad Mustafa Kamal (; born 15 June 1947) commonly known as Lotus Kamal is a Bangladeshi politician, former cricket official, and businessman. He was a member of the

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad (), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as is the unicameral Legislature, legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for w ...

representing the Comilla-10 constituency and a Minister for Planning as well as Minister of Finance. He is the owner of Lotus Kamal Group, which is a well-known Bangladeshi conglomerate. Kamal was awarded the

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

of the Year 2020 by magazine ''

The Banker ''The Banker'' is an English-language monthly international financial affairs publication owned by '' The Financial Times'' and edited in London, United Kingdom. The magazine was first published in January 1926 through founding editor Brendan ...

''.

Early life

Kamal was born on 15 June 1947 in Laksham,

Cumilla Comilla (), officially spelled Cumilla, is a metropolis on the banks of the Gomti River in eastern Bangladesh. Comilla was one of the cities of ancient Bengal. It was once the capital of Tripura kingdom. Comilla Airport is located in the Duli ...

, East Bengal, British India. After the primary education from local Dattapur Primary School, SSC from Bagmara High School in 1962, later HSC from Cumilla Victoria Government College, and B.Com. (Honors) degree from Chittagong Government Commerce College in 1964–1967. In 1967 he finished his undergraduate in Financial Management from the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

. He completed his master's degree in accounting in 1968 from the University of Dhaka. He also earned a law degree. He is also an FCA (Fellow Chartered Accountant).

Career

Business

Kamal founded the Lotus Kamal Group which is a well-known Bengali textile industry.

Politics

Kamal was elected to Parliament from Comilla-9 in 1996. He received 57,195 votes while his closest rival, Monirul Haq Chowdhury of Jatiya Party (E), received 47,570 votes. Kamal contested the 2001 election from Comilla-9 as an Awami League candidate and lost. He received 66,175 votes while Monirul Haq Chowdhury of

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

candidate won with 78,622 votes. Kamal was elected to his second term as a member of the

for the constituency of Cumilla-10 in 2008. He received 138,089 votes while his nearest rival, Mobasher Alam Bhuiyan of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, received 89,821. Kamal was reelected in 2014 unopposed after the election was boycotted by the main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He is Convener of Awami League in the Cumilla district (South). He is also the Finance and Planning Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League. He was appointed the Minister for Planning in January 2014. Kamal was re-elected to parliament in December 2018 from Comilla-10 as a candidate of the Awami League. He received 405,299 votes while his nearest rival, Md Monirul Haq Chowdhuri of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, received 12,488 votes. On 7 January 2019, Kamal was appointed the Minister of Finance of Bangladesh.

Cricket administration

Kamal has been involved with cricket and its development for last 30 years in various capacities. From 1990 to 2010 he was chairman of the cricket committee of Abahani Limited, before becoming the President of Asian Cricket Council between 2010 and 2012. In 2012, Kamal was named as the vice-president of the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) for the 2012–2014 term. Prior to his nomination for the ICC, Kamal was the president of the

Bangladesh Cricket Board The Bangladesh Cricket Board (; abbreviated as BCB), formerly known as Bangladesh Cricket Control Board, is the governing body of cricket in Bangladesh. It became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1977, and a Lis ...

. Kamal succeeded Alan Isaac as president of the ICC in 2014. Kamal resigned from his designation as ICC President, with effect from 1 April 2015. The resignation was reportedly to protest alleged non-compliance by the ICC of laws written in the constitution of the ICC, and he was an active protester of corruption in cricket.

Personal life

Kamal's daughter Nafisa Kamal is the director of Farmers Bank presently known as Padma Bank Limited and owner of Cumilla Victorians and wife is Kasmiri Kamal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamal, Mustafa 1947 births Living people People from Laksam Upazila Politicians from Chittagong Division Comilla Victoria Government College alumni Awami League politicians Bangladeshi cricket administrators Presidents of the International Cricket Council Ministers of planning of Bangladesh Ministers of finance of Bangladesh 9th Jatiya Sangsad members 10th Jatiya Sangsad members 11th Jatiya Sangsad members Government College of Commerce, Chittagong alumni 12th Jatiya Sangsad members Presidents of the Bangladesh Cricket Board