Bangladesh is holding its first contested presidential election since October 1991, with 349 members of parliament voting between ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and former army officer Oli Ahmad, the nominee of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance. The vote is scheduled from 08:00 GMT to 11:00 GMT on Thursday, with the result expected hours later, according to the Election Commission.
Alamgir has a decisive numerical advantage: 247 of the eligible lawmakers belong to the BNP, while 90 belong to the Jamaat-led opposition alliance. The election is nevertheless symbolically important as Bangladesh reshapes its institutions after the 2024 uprising and the BNP’s return to power in February.
Why the election was called
The vote followed the resignation last month of Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed in 2023 as a nominee of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League. Shahabuddin left office halfway through his five-year term after serving during Hasina’s removal in August 2024, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration and the BNP’s return to power in February.
The two candidates
Alamgir, 78, is one of the BNP’s leading figures. He became the party’s acting secretary-general in 2011 and was formally appointed to the post in 2016. After the BNP won this year’s election, he became minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives.
Ahmad, 85, is a retired colonel, decorated veteran of Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party and a six-time member of parliament. He served as communications minister under former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and founded the LDP in 2006.
A historic vote with limited presidential power
Every Bangladeshi presidential election after the October 1991 contest was uncontested. In that election, BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League nominee Badrul Haider Chowdhury by 172 votes to 92.
Bangladesh’s constitution makes the president head of state but gives the office little independent executive authority. Article 48(3) requires the president to act on the prime minister’s advice, except when appointing the prime minister and chief justice. Political scientist Ali Riaz said the return of a contested vote was welcome but that its practical significance should not be overstated.
Questions about lawmakers’ independence
The contest has revived debate over Article 70 of the constitution, which can cost lawmakers their parliamentary seats if they vote against their party. Families of people killed by security forces during the 2024 uprising have also questioned why the presidential change did not happen sooner and whether MPs should be bound by their parties’ choices.
The July National Charter on reforms proposed electing the president through members of both houses of parliament. The planned upper chamber, which would have significant powers over key constitutional and statutory bodies, has not yet been implemented.
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