Bangladesh set for first presidential contest in 35 years:BNP’s Fakhrul favoured to win; Jamaat fields retired army officer

Bangladesh is set for a contested presidential election after 35 years. This is the first time since 1991 that two candidates are contesting the presidency. On Thursday, the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) nominated its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as its candidate for the presidential election. The President of Bangladesh is not directly elected by the public. Members of Parliament elect the President. In the general election held in February, the BNP won a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Therefore, Fakhrul is widely expected to win. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s main hardline opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami, has also fielded a candidate. Retired Colonel Oli Ahmed, leader of the Jamaat-led alliance and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has filed his nomination papers. The election will be held on August 20. BNP candidate was linked to East Pakistan Union in the 1960s Fakhrul’s political career goes back nearly six decades. He became involved in student politics while studying at Dhaka University in the 1960s. At the time, he was associated with the East Pakistan Students Union. During the major movement against President Ayub Khan in 1969, he was president of the Dhaka University unit of the student organisation. He was also arrested and jailed for his political activities. However, Fakhrul did not immediately enter active politics after his student years. After completing his studies, he began his career as a teacher. He became a lecturer at Dhaka College in 1972 and later taught at several government colleges. Fakhrul left government job and entered politics in 1986 After being chosen as the presidential candidate, Fakhrul resigned as BNP Secretary General and from the party’s Standing Committee. His nomination papers were also submitted to the Election Commission on Thursday. Jamaat alliance candidate took part in 1971 Liberation War Colonel (Retd) Oli Ahmed, the candidate of the alliance led by the hardline opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami, is a well-known and experienced Bangladeshi politician. He also took part in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. After retiring from the army in 1980, he entered politics. He was among the early founders of the BNP and was considered close to Khaleda Zia. When the BNP formed the government in 1991, he was appointed Communications Minister. He also held responsibility for ministries dealing with youth development and power and energy. In 2006, Oli Ahmed left the BNP and formed the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), later becoming its chairman. He has also served as an MP several times. Earlier, people directly elected the President Bangladesh has held 12 presidential elections so far. In eight of them, the President was elected unopposed. After the Constitution came into force, the first presidential election was held in 1974, when MPs voted to elect Mohammad Mohammadullah. After a constitutional amendment in 1975, the system was changed to allow people to directly elect the President. Under this system, the public elected the President three times in a row, in 1978, 1981 and 1986. In 1991, the parliamentary system was restored and the President was again elected by MPs. That year, two candidates contested the election. Since then, all presidential elections up to 2023 were held without a contest. Now, 35 years after 1991, Bangladesh is set for another contested presidential election. This means MPs will have to vote. BNP and Awami League candidates faced each other in 1991 In 1991, Bangladesh returned to a parliamentary democracy after years of military-backed rule. In that year’s presidential election, BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas faced Awami League candidate Badrul Haider Chowdhury. MPs voted in the election. Biswas received 172 votes, while Chowdhury received 92 votes. Since then, there has been no such contest in a presidential election. Only one candidate in every election since then In the presidential elections held after 1991, no strong candidate stood against the candidate backed by the ruling party. As a result, every election was completed without a contest. In 2023, only one nomination was filed for Mohammed Shahabuddin. He was therefore declared President unopposed. ​