What We Know About Bangladesh's First Contested Presidential Election In 35 Years

Bangladesh is holding its first contested presidential election in 35 years, with ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir facing former army officer Oli Ahmad, the nominee of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance, as per Al Jazeera.

A total of 349 members of Parliament are eligible to vote in Thursday's election, with polling taking place in Parliament and the result expected within hours, according to Bangladesh's Election Commission.

The election was triggered by the resignation last month of President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who had been elected unopposed in 2023. Thursday's vote is the first contested presidential election since October 1991, when BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League nominee Badrul Haider Chowdhury. Every presidential election since then had been uncontested.

BNP Has The Numbers

The contest is widely expected to end in victory for Alamgir. Of the 349 lawmakers eligible to vote, 247 belong to the BNP, while 90 belong to the Jamaat-led opposition alliance, giving the ruling party candidate a decisive numerical advantage.

Alamgir, 78, is one of the BNP's senior leaders and became a key public face of the party during its years in opposition. He became minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives after the BNP returned to power following this year's election.

His opponent, retired Colonel Oli Ahmad, 85, is a veteran of Bangladesh's 1971 Liberation War, a six-time parliamentarian and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party. His nomination is politically notable because the Jamaat-led alliance backing him opposed Bangladesh's independence in 1971, while Ahmad fought in the liberation war.