35 years on, Bangladesh faces a contested presidential race as Alamgir takes on Oli Ahmed

Bangladesh lawmakers on Thursday began voting to elect the country's 23rd president, with ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir facing Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed in the first contested presidential election in the country in 35 years.

Polling is being held at the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament) through an open ballot and will continue until 5 pm local time. As many as 349 lawmakers are eligible to vote.

Alamgir, 78, is contesting against Oli Ahmed, 84, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance.

The Election Commission will announce the result after the votes are counted and publish it in the official gazette. The president-elect is scheduled to take oath on Friday, August 21, evening at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban.

The election is the first contested presidential poll in Bangladesh since 1991. In the years since, the post has largely been filled through consensus or uncontested elections.

Poll follows Shahabuddin's resignation

The election became necessary after Mohammed Shahabuddin, a close aide of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned last month citing health reasons before completing his five-year term.

The Constitution requires a new president to be elected within 90 days of the office falling vacant. Parliamentary Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad is currently serving as acting president.

Under Bangladesh's constitutional system, the president is elected by Members of Parliament.

BNP majority gives Alamgir an edge

The BNP, which won the February 12 elections, holds a two-thirds majority in Parliament, giving Alamgir a strong advantage in the contest.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who is also the BNP chairman, nominated Alamgir, the party's longtime secretary general and a close ally of former premier Khaleda Zia, for the post.

Addressing the BNP parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, August 19, Alamgir appealed to lawmakers to vote for him.

“If I have made any mistake or unintentionally hurt anyone during my tenure, I seek forgiveness,” he said.

Several lawmakers who attended the meeting said Alamgir became emotional and broke down in tears multiple times.

He also pledged that he would never compromise on Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty.

If elected, Alamgir will become the country's 23rd president. He has been a leading figure in the BNP for more than two decades, serving as acting secretary general from 2011 before formally assuming the post in 2016.

He played a key role in running the party during the imprisonment of its then-chairperson and former prime minister Zia and the absence of Rahman, who was abroad at the time.

Presidency and its constitutional powers

The president is largely a ceremonial head of state under Bangladesh's parliamentary system, but the office carries constitutional powers such as appointing the prime minister and the chief justice.

The president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, although these powers are generally exercised on the advice of the prime minister.

Political analysts said the presidency could gain greater importance under the caretaker government system recently reintroduced to oversee general elections, as the president's role in commanding the armed forces would become significantly more important during such a period.

They also viewed Alamgir's nomination as a calculated move by the BNP, which had promised in its election manifesto to strengthen the president's powers through constitutional amendments.

Alamgir's political journey

An economist by training, Alamgir entered politics as a left-leaning student activist when Bangladesh was still East Pakistan. Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan with India's help in 1971.

He joined the BNP in the early 1990s and subsequently served as state minister for agriculture and civil aviation.

After the BNP returned to power in the February 12 elections this year, Alamgir was appointed local government minister.