Bangladesh is holding its first contested presidential election in 35 years, with the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir pitted against former army officer Oli Ahmad, the nominee of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance.
asserted
candidate → hold → alliance
A total of 349 members of parliament are eligible to vote in the parliamentary chamber between 08:00 GMT and 11:00 GMT on Thursday, with the result expected hours later, according to Bangladesh’s Election Commission.
uncertain
result → vote → Commission
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The election was triggered by 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 (AL) party.
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who → resign → party
He quit halfway through his five-year term after serving through Hasina’s removal in August 2024, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration, and the BNP’s return to power in February.
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He → quit → February
Thursday’s vote will be the first contested presidential election since October 1991, when BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated AL nominee Badrul Haider Chowdhury by 172 votes to 92.
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Biswas → contest → 92
The outcome, however, is widely seen as a foregone conclusion.
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outcome → see → conclusion
Of the 349 lawmakers eligible to vote, 247 belong to the BNP and 90 to the Jamaat-led opposition alliance, giving Alamgir a decisive numerical advantage.
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90 → vote → advantage
Still, the vote carries symbolic significance for a country reshaping its institutions two years after the 2024 uprising that ended Hasina’s iron-fisted 15-year rule.
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that → carry → rule
He became the acting secretary-general in 2011 and was formally appointed to the post in 2016, emerging as one of the party’s principal public faces during its long years in opposition under Hasina.
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He → become → Hasina
After the BNP swept this year’s election, Alamgir became minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives.
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Alamgir → sweep → government
At a BNP parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, he thanked Prime Minister Tarique Rahman for nominating him and pledged not to compromise on Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty.
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he → thank → independence
Rahman in turn urged BNP lawmakers to vote for Alamgir.
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Rahman → urge → Alamgir
Alamgir’s opponent, retired Colonel Ahmad, 85, is a decorated veteran of Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and a six-time member of parliament.
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opponent → decorate → parliament
Once a close associate of former President Ziaur Rahman, the father of current Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Ahmad joined the BNP in 1980 after leaving the army the year before.
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Ahmad → join → army
He served as communications minister under former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and founded the LDP in 2006.
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He → serve → 2006
Ahmad’s nomination is politically striking: his main backer, the Jamaat, had opposed Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 and sided with Pakistan during the war, while Ahmad fought in the Liberation War.
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Ahmad → oppose → War
Despite Ahmad’s slim chances of winning, the opposition alliance has hailed him as an experienced and broadly acceptable candidate, ensuring that the presidency will be decided through a vote and not remain uncontested.
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presidency → win → vote
Among Bangladeshis, views are divided over the two men’s political records.
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views → divide → records
For Anwarul Islam, a former Bangladesh Bank official, Alamgir stands out for his personal integrity.
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Alamgir → stand → integrity
“I visited Mirza Fakhrul’s constituency.
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I → visit → constituency
People, irrespective of race or religion, have enormous affection for him,” Islam told Al Jazeera.
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Islam → have → Jazeera
Abdul Baten, a manager at a construction site in the capital Dhaka, said he preferred Ahmad.
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he → say → Ahmad
“I would definitely prefer Oli because he is a seasoned politician,” Baten said.
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Baten → prefer → Oli
“His opponent, Fakhrul, and the BNP did not keep their promises on state reforms.”
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opponent → keep → reforms
Bangladesh’s constitution makes the president the head of state, but grants the office little independent executive authority.
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president → make → state
Article 48(3) requires the president to act on the prime minister’s advice, except in appointing the prime minister and the chief justice.
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Article → require → minister
Ali Riaz, a political scientist who served as co-chair of the National Consensus Commission on state reforms under the Yunus-led interim government, said the return of a contested election was welcome, but its practical significance should not be overstated.
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significance → serve → election
“It’s good to see that someone who has been at the forefront of the democratic movement and fought against a fascist regime will be occupying the office of the president,” Riaz told Al Jazeera.
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Riaz → ’ → Jazeera
“However, the presidential election has very little significance due to the limited powers of the president.”
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election → have → president
Riaz said the July National Charter on key reforms agreed by political parties after the 2024 uprising, and ratified through a referendum in this year’s election, proposed that the president be elected by members of both houses of parliament.
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president → say → parliament
The plan for an upper chamber of parliament, with significant powers over key constitutional and statutory bodies to balance power, has still not been implemented.
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plan → balance → power
Riaz also questioned the significance of an open vote in which the governing party already has the numbers to win.
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party → question → numbers
“The election is more of a ritual than substantive in terms of governance and politics,” he said.
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he → say → governance
Questions over the process
For the families of more than 1,400 people killed by the security forces during the 2024 uprising, Shahabuddin’s departure and the election of a new president are overdue.
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Questions → kill → president
“It should have happened much earlier, but it is still good to see it happening now,” Sanjida Khan Deepti, mother of 17-year-old Shahriar Khan Anas who was killed during the uprising, told Al Jazeera.
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who → happen → Jazeera
But Deepti questioned whether MPs should be bound by their party’s choice.
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MPs → question → choice
“If an MP cannot vote for the person they believe is best for the country, then what is the point of holding a vote?” she said.
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she → vote → vote
“Our children gave their lives for democracy.
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children → give → democracy
The election has revived debates over whether Article 70 of the constitution – which can cost lawmakers their parliamentary seats for voting against their party – should apply to a presidential election.
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which → revive → election
For all its constitutional limitations and predictable arithmetic, Thursday’s vote will mark a rare moment in Bangladesh’s politics: for the first time in more than three decades, lawmakers will have two names on the ballot for the country’s next head of state.
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lawmakers → mark → state
The Aporia
