Voting in presidential election Thursday

Voting in the presidential election is set to be held on Thursday after 35 years, with Members of Parliament to elect the country’s 23rd President through an open ballot.

The balloting will be held in the session chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad from 2pm to 5pm. A total of 349 MPs are eligible to cast their votes.

Bangabhaban is making preparations to arrange the oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected President on Friday evening.

BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and opposition Jamaat-led 11-party alliance contender Col (retd) Oli Ahmad are contesting the election.   

With BNP holding an absolute majority in Parliament, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is widely expected to be elected as the country’s 23rd President.

Under Article 70 of the Constitution, lawmakers, elected as candidates of political parties, will lose their seats if they vote for any candidate in this presidential election, going against their respective party’s decision.

The last contested presidential election was held on October 8, 1991, when BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League candidate Badrul Haider Chowdhury to become the country’s 11th President.  

Abdur Rahman Biswas secured 172 votes, while Badrul Haider Chowdhury received 92.

Since then, no voting was required in the successive presidential elections as a single candidate was elected uncontested in each election.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, who is also the election officer for the presidential election, on Wednesday described the election as historic as it requires voting after 35 years since the competitive presidential polls in 1991.

Addressing a pre-election press conference in the city’s Nirbachan Bhaban, he also expressed optimism that they will be able to conduct the polls in a nice manner. “We don't have any sort of deficit in our preparation,” he said.

The CEC said the election result will be published in the official gazette on Thursday, hours after the balloting.

Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni on Wednesday also said Bangladesh is going to witness a historic moment with the voting in the presidential election on Thursday afternoon.  

“We will vote in the presidential election on Thursday after 35 years, Inshallah. Voting will begin at 2pm and continue until 5pm,” he said.

He also said the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected President is scheduled for Friday evening at Bangabhaban.

The Chief Whip came up with the announcement at a briefing after a meeting of the ruling BNP’s parliamentary party at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Wednesday afternoon.

The BNP parliamentary party meeting began at 4pm on the ninth floor of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with Prime Minister and Leader of the House Tarique Rahman in the chair and ended at 4:40pm.

BNP presidential candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was also present at the meeting.

The Chief Whip said there will be live telecasts of parts of the voting process as per a joint decision taken by the Election Commission and Parliament.

He said a live telecast will begin five minutes before the start of voting, showing the President, the Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and presidential candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir casting their votes.

The remaining proceedings will be recorded, while another live telecast will begin five minutes before the close of voting. The announcement of the election results will also be broadcast live.

“You will see a historic moment tomorrow. A new journey of democracy will begin,” Moni said.

He said the newly elected President will take the oath of office at Bangabhaban at 7:30pm on Friday.

Speaking about the upcoming election, the Chief Whip said the country was entering a new democratic journey under the leadership of Tarique Rahman.

He said the presidential election would allow people to witness once again how voting takes place in the country.

The Election Commission on August 6 announced the schedule for the presidential election, fixing August 20 for voting.

Just before the balloting in Parliament on Thursday afternoon, the CEC will brief the lawmakers, the electors on the voting procedure.

Each ballot paper will have two parts — a counterfoil and the ballot portion. The counterfoil will contain three pieces of information and a blank space: the serial number, the name of the MP and the divisional number (constituency number) provided by the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat.

An MP will sign his or her full name in the designated space before receiving the ballot paper.

The names of the contesting candidates will be printed on the right-hand side of the ballot paper in alphabetical order in Bangla. There will be a designated space beside each candidate’s name where MPs will sign their full names and cast their votes.

The MPs will then deposit their ballots into the designated ballot box. Ballots will be accepted until 5:00pm, after which counting will begin.

A total of 349 MPs are voters in the presidential election as the Chattogram-4 parliamentary seat remains vacant.

The voters include 247 BNP lawmakers, 77 Jamaat MPs, eight NCP lawmakers, eight independent MPs, three Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis MPs, and one each from Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ganosamhati Andolon, Khilafat Majlis, Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party. 

BJP, Gono Odhikar Parishad and Ganosamhati Andolon are allies of the ruling BNP. The ruling camp has 250 lawmakers who are expected to vote for Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in this presidential election.

On the other hand, Jamaat, NCP, Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, Khilafat Majlis and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party are components of the 11-party opposition alliance. The opposition camp has 90 lawmakers in Parliament, who are expected to vote for Oli Ahmad.

On July 24 last, Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned as President and Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad took charge as the acting President.

According to Article 123(2) of the Constitution, an election to fill the vacant office of the President must be held within 90 days of the post becoming vacant due to resignation. -UNB