BNP nominee faces Jamaat-led alliance as Bangladesh Presidential election begins

Dhaka, Aug 20 (IANS) As polling for Bangladesh’s Presidential election began on Thursday, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman cast his vote alongside the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) nominee Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, local media reported.

The voting process to elect the country’s 23rd President commenced on Thursday afternoon in the Parliament Session Chamber under the supervision of Chief Election Commissioner and Returning Officer AMM Nasir Uddin.

Two candidates — BNP nominee Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Oli Ahmed, representing the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance — are competing for the presidency, with 349 Members of Parliament eligible to cast their ballots, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.

The presidential election marks the first “ballot battle” in more than three and a half decades, breaking with the longstanding practice of electing Presidents unopposed, a trend that has continued since 1991.

The last presidential election decided through voting in Parliament was on October 8, 1991.

Following the resignation of Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin on July 24, Speaker of the National Parliament Hafiz Uddin Ahmed was serving as the country’s acting President. Under the Constitution of Bangladesh, the election of a new President must be held within 90 days of the office falling vacant, Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune reported.

Although the presidential election is being contested, the ruling BNP enters the race with a clear numerical advantage. In the 2026 parliamentary election, the BNP won 210 seats, compared with 77 secured by the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami, giving the ruling party a clear majority in parliament.

Last week, speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Senior Supreme Court Appellate Division lawyer Advocate Manzil Morshed said: “The opposition knows that it will lose the election. Even then, fielding a candidate is a political strategy.”

Asked why the Jamaat-led alliance entered the presidential race despite knowing its candidate is likely to lose, Manzil Morshed said: “There is a discussion in the political arena that Jamaat and BNP are closely connected. They may have fielded a candidate merely as a showpiece so that no one can accuse them of not participating or raise questions about the matter.”

Additionally, Badiul Alam Majumdar, an election expert and founder of Dhaka–based civil society platform Shujan, said: “The presidential election is predetermined. Whoever the ruling party wants will become President.”

–IANS

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