Mirza Fakhrul Elected Bangladesh’s 23rd President

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir

BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been elected as the 23rd President of Bangladesh after defeating his lone rival, Col (retd) Oli Ahmad, in Thursday’s presidential election.

Fakhrul secured 255 votes, while Oli Ahmad, the candidate of the 11-party opposition alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, received 88 votes.

Chief Election Commissioner and Returning Officer AMM Nasir Uddin announced the result after voting ended at 5pm in the session chamber of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

“Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has secured 255 votes. I declare that, having received the highest number of votes, he has been duly elected President,” the CEC said.

Of the 349 lawmakers eligible to vote, 343 cast valid ballots while six did not participate in the election.

The six lawmakers who did not vote were BNP MPs Mirza Abbas, Mostafa Kamal Pasha and Dr Muhammad Osman Farruk, independent MP Rumeen Farhana, Jamaat MP Gazi Nazrul Islam and Islami Andolan Bangladesh MP Md Oli Ullah.

Following the announcement, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman congratulated Fakhrul and presented him with a red rose before embracing him.

Lawmakers from both the treasury and opposition benches congratulated the newly elected President by applauding and exchanging greetings.

Opposition Leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Syed Abdullah Mohammed Taher and other opposition lawmakers approached the treasury bench. Fakhrul embraced Shafiqur, while Tarique Rahman later embraced both Fakhrul and Shafiqur.

The Election Commission is expected to publish the result in an official gazette, while Bangabhaban is preparing for Fakhrul’s oath-taking ceremony on Friday evening.

Voting took place from 2pm to 5pm through an open ballot, with MPs electing the President in Parliament.

At the start of the voting, Acting President Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Acting Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal cast their ballots at 2:10pm, followed by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Fakhrul at 2:11pm.

The Chattogram-4 parliamentary seat is currently vacant, leaving 349 eligible voters in the presidential election. The electorate included 247 BNP lawmakers, 77 Jamaat MPs, eight NCP lawmakers, eight independent MPs and representatives from several smaller parties.

The presidential election was contested for the first time since 1991. In that election, BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League candidate Badrul Haider Chowdhury.

Successive presidential elections since then had been uncontested, with single candidates being elected.

The presidential post fell vacant after Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned on July 24. Acting Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad subsequently assumed the duties of acting President.

Under Article 123(2) of the Constitution, an election to fill a vacant presidential post must be held within 90 days of the vacancy.