Bangladesh set for 1st contested presidential election in over 35 yrs
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Dhaka: Bangladesh’s presidential election on August 20 is set to witness a “ballot battle” for the first time in more than three and a half decades, breaking with the long-standing practice of electing presidents unopposed.
The election marks a significant departure from the trend that has continued since 1991, local media reported.
According to the schedule announced by the Bangladesh Election Commission, the presidential election will be held in the session chamber of the National Parliament Building on August 20. Members of Parliament will vote by secret ballot if more than one candidate remains in the race.
Following the resignation of Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin on July 24, Speaker of the National Parliament Hafiz Uddin Ahmed is currently serving as acting president. Under the Constitution, the election of a new president must be held within 90 days of the office falling vacant, Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune reported.
Reports indicate that both the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance, the main opposition force in Parliament, have decided to field candidates for the presidential election.
Citing multiple party sources, Bangladesh’s The Daily Star reported that BNP Secretary General and Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is likely to be the party’s presidential nominee.
Fakhrul has also signed the consent form for the presidential nomination, while the party is reportedly expected to formally announce his candidacy on Wednesday or Thursday.
Although the presidential election will be contested, the ruling BNP enters the race with a clear numerical advantage. In the 2026 parliamentary election, the BNP won 210 seats, while the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance secured 77 seats, giving the ruling party a clear majority in Parliament.
Speaking to Dhaka Tribune, Senior Supreme Court Appellate Division lawyer Advocate Manzil Morshed said the opposition was aware that it would lose the election but was fielding a candidate as a political strategy.
Asked why the Jamaat-led alliance had entered the presidential race despite knowing that its candidate was likely to lose, Morshed said there was a discussion in political circles that Jamaat and BNP were closely connected. He suggested that the opposition alliance may have fielded a candidate merely as a “showpiece” to avoid accusations of not participating and prevent questions from being raised over the election.
Badiul Alam Majumdar, an election expert and founder of Dhaka-based civil society platform Shujan, also described the presidential election as predetermined, saying that whoever the ruling party wants will become president.
With IANS inputs