Bangladesh goes to the polls on Thursday to elect its 23rd president, with lawmakers set to vote in Parliament in the first contested presidential election in 35 years.
A total of 349 Members of Parliament are eligible to cast their ballots from 2pm to 5pm in the parliament chamber.
Ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) nominee Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is contesting against Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed, the candidate of an 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
The contest is the first presidential election involving more than one candidate since October 8, 1991, when BNP nominee Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League candidate Justice Badrul Haider Chowdhury.
Since then, presidential elections under the parliamentary system have been uncontested, with nominees backed by the parliamentary majority elected unopposed.
349 MPs to vote
The parliament has 350 seats, including 300 general seats and 50 reserved seats for women. However, the Chittagong-4 seat is vacant, leaving 349 lawmakers eligible to vote.
BNP has a clear majority in Parliament, making Mirza Fakhrul the overwhelming favorite to win.
Article 70 of the Constitution is also significant. Under the provision, a lawmaker elected as a party nominee loses membership if they vote in Parliament against the party that nominated them.
Voting will be held inside the main Parliament chamber, with MPs casting ballots from their designated seats.
The ballot papers will carry the names of the two candidates. MPs will indicate their choice before placing their ballots in ballot boxes inside the chamber.
Voting will close at 5pm, after which counting will begin immediately. The chief election commissioner, who is serving as the election officer, will announce the result after counting.
The voting and announcement of the result will be televised live. According to Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni, live coverage will begin five minutes before voting starts.
BNP parliamentary party meeting
Ahead of the election, the BNP parliamentary party held a meeting at the parliament building on Wednesday afternoon.
The meeting began at 4pm on the ninth floor of the Parliament building with Prime Minister and Leader of the House Tarique Rahman in the chair.
Mirza Fakhrul also attended the meeting.
Afterward, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni said the election would mark an important moment in the country's democratic journey.
He said the return of a contested presidential election after 35 years was a historic moment and expressed hope that the process would strengthen democratic institutions.
A contest after 35 years
The last contested presidential election was held on October 8, 1991, following the restoration of the parliamentary system.
In that election, BNP's Abdur Rahman Biswas received 172 votes, while Awami League nominee Justice Badrul Haider Chowdhury secured 92. Sixty-six lawmakers did not vote.
All subsequent presidential elections under the parliamentary system were uncontested.
Shahabuddin Ahmed was elected in 1996, followed by AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury in 2001, Iajuddin Ahmed in 2002, Zillur Rahman in 2009, Abdul Hamid in 2013 and 2018, and Mohammed Shahabuddin in 2023.
The current election therefore represents a return to competitive voting in Parliament more than three decades after the 1991 contest.
From direct voting to parliamentary election
Bangladesh's system for electing its president has changed several times since independence.
The country's first presidential election under the parliamentary system was held in 1974, when Parliament Speaker Mohammad Mohammadullah was elected.
Presidents were later elected through direct public voting in 1978, 1981 and 1986. Ziaur Rahman won in 1978, Justice Abdus Sattar in 1981, and Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1986.
After the parliamentary system was restored in 1991, the president once again became an indirectly elected head of state, with MPs serving as the electoral college.
With Mirza Fakhrul holding the backing of the ruling party and Oli Ahmed representing the opposition alliance, the outcome is widely expected to favor the BNP nominee.
The election, however, marks a significant departure from more than three decades of uncontested presidential polls and will be closely watched as a test of Bangladesh's parliamentary democratic process.