Bangladesh holds first contested presidential election in 35 years

Bangladesh's presidential election began on Thursday, with lawmakers casting votes to elect the country's 23rd president in the first contested poll for the office since 1991. The voting, which will continue until 5 p.m. local time, is taking place at the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament), with 349 lawmakers eligible to participate. The election is being conducted through an open ballot.

Two candidates are in the fray: Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, a 78-year-old candidate of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed, 84, chairperson of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and nominee of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party Opposition alliance.

The Election Commission is expected to announce the result after the counting of votes is completed and publish it in the official gazette. The president-elect will take the oath as Bangladesh's new president on Friday evening (August 21, 2026) at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban.

This presidential election is notable as it is the first contested one in 35 years. In recent decades, the office had largely been filled through consensus and uncontested polls. The election was necessitated after Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was appointed during the tenure of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and is considered a close aide, resigned last month on health grounds before completing his five-year term. Under the Constitution, a new president must be elected within 90 days of the office falling vacant.

Parliamentary Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad is currently serving as acting president, as required under the Constitution following the vacancy. The president is elected by Members of Parliament under Bangladesh's constitutional system.

The BNP, which was voted to power in the February 12 elections, currently commands a two-thirds majority in Parliament, giving Alamgir a strong position to secure the presidency. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who is also the BNP chairman, nominated Alamgir, a longtime secretary general of the party and a close ally of former premier Khaleda Zia.

Speaking at a BNP parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday (August 19, 2026), Alamgir appealed to BNP lawmakers to vote for him. He said, “If I have made any mistake or unintentionally hurt anyone during my tenure, I seek forgiveness.” Several lawmakers present at the meeting said the veteran leader became emotional and broke down in tears. Alamgir pledged that he would never compromise on the country's independence and sovereignty.

If elected, Alamgir will become Bangladesh's 23rd President. He has been one of the BNP's most prominent leaders for over two decades, having served as acting secretary general from 2011 before formally taking over the post in 2016. He played a prominent role in leading the BNP during the imprisonment of its then-chairperson and former prime minister Zia and the absence of Rahman, who was abroad at the time.

The president is largely a ceremonial head of state under Bangladesh's parliamentary system, with key constitutional powers, including appointing the prime minister and the chief justice. Though the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces, those powers are generally exercised on the advice of the prime minister.

Political analysts, however, said the presidency could assume greater significance under the caretaker government system recently reintroduced to oversee general elections, when the president's power would increase significantly in commanding the armed forces during such a period. They also opine that Alamgir's nomination could be a well-calculated move by the BNP, which in its election manifesto had promised to equip the president with more power by amending the constitution.