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Vote counting is underway following the completion of polling for Bangladesh’s 23rd presidential election at the Jatiya Sangsad chamber.
Polling ended at 5pm on Thursday (August 20), immediately after which officials began counting the ballots. The election results will be announced after the counting is completed.
Chief Election Commissioner A M M Nasir Uddin, who is also the chief election officer for the presidential election, said 349 lawmakers were eligible to vote. Polling was held from 2pm to 5pm.
After counting, the CEC will announce the number of votes received by each candidate, along with the number of rejected or invalid ballots. The candidate securing a majority of the votes will be declared elected president, after which the result will be published in an official gazette.
Before voting began, the CEC explained the voting procedure to the lawmakers.
Acting President Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram, Acting Speaker of Parliament Barrister Kaiser Kamal, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, and BNP-nominated presidential candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who recently stepped down as the party’s secretary general, were among the first to cast their ballots. Other lawmakers then voted one after another.
Two candidates are contesting the election: BNP-nominated Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Col (retd) Oli Ahmad Bir Bikram, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), who is backed by an 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
The presidential election is being held for the first time in 35 years. The last direct presidential election by lawmakers was held in 1991, when the BNP nominated Abdur Rahman Biswas and the Awami League fielded Badruddoza Ahmed as its candidate.
Under Article 70 of the Constitution, a lawmaker who votes against the decision of their party risks losing their parliamentary seat.
Of the 349 seats in the current Jatiya Sangsad, the BNP holds 209 seats, giving it a two-thirds majority. Given the parliamentary arithmetic, BNP nominee Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is widely expected to secure victory in the presidential election.
