Presidential voting begins as MPs cast ballots
Photo: Screengrab from video.
The presidential election has begun in the National Parliament at 2 pm on Thursday.
A special session has started in the Parliament. The election official and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin is presiding over the election.
In the election, BNP former secretary general and LGRD Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is contesting on behalf of the ruling party. On the other hand, LDP Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmad is contesting as the candidate of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance.
The voting will conclude at 5pm.
Bangladesh is witnessing its presidential election through direct voting after three and a half decades.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is present at the special session of Parliament. Oli is absent as he is not a Member of Parliament.
According to EC, there are 349 MP voters in this election. The total voter count is one short of the total seats due to the Chattogram-4 constituency being vacant. The voter list has been compiled based on the parliament’s “division numbers”.
Among them, the BNP-led alliance holds 250 seats, including reserved seats, which comprises 247 BNP MPs along with one member each from BJP, Ganosamhati Andolan, and Gono Odhikar Parishad.
Out of the 90 MPs in the Jamaat-led alliance, 77 are from Jamaat, 8 from NCP, 3 from Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, 1 from Khelafat Majlis, and 1 from JAGPA. There are 8 independent MPs and 1 MP from Islami Andolan. A candidate requires 175 votes to win the election.
The newly elected president is scheduled to take the oath on Friday. Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC), the Parliament, and the president’s office have completed all preparations for the oath-taking ceremony.
