Presidential polls since 1971

 
Bangladesh will elect its 23rd President on August 20. The Election Commission, acting under the Presidential Election Act, 1991, has fixed August 13 for submission of nomination papers, August 16 for scrutiny and August 18 as the last date for withdrawal, with polling to be held between 2pm and 5pm at the National Parliament session hall. Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin will be presiding as returning authority.  

The contest has been thrown open by the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance, which has nominated Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chairman Dr Col. (retd.) Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram as its candidate, while Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi collected two nomination forms on the ruling BNP's behalf, though the party's nominee is yet to be formally declared. However, media has focused BNP Secretary General and Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the probable candidate of the ruling party. The seat now stands vacant after President Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned on July 24, citing health issues, with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed discharging the duties of acting head of state under Article 51 until a successor is sworn in.  

A presidency reshaped by history
The office has changed character repeatedly since Liberation War in 1971. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman served as President of the government-in-exile from April 17, 1971, with Syed Nazrul Islam as acting head of state, before Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became Prime Minister on January 12, 1972 and Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury took over as President. Mohammad Mohammadullah followed in December 1973, elected unanimously by Parliament, before the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution restored a presidential system and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman himself resumed the office in January 1975 until his assassination on August 15, 1975. A turbulent interregnum ensued �" Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed, Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem and finally Ziaur Rahman, who founded the BNP in 1978. After Zia's assassination in Chattogram in 1981, Justice Abdus Sattar briefly held office before martial law returned power to the military under AFM Ahsanuddin Chowdhury and then Hussain Muhammad Ershad, whose nine-year rule ended in Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed's tenure as caretaker head of state from 1990.  The parliamentary system restored the following year ushered in a long line of presidents drawn from the ruling party of the day as BNP's Abdur Rahman Biswas from 1991, Awami League's Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed for a second spell from 1996, BNP's Professor AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury from 2001 followed by Professor Iazuddin Ahmed from 2002, Awami League's Zillur Rahman from 2009, Abdul Hamid from 2013 to 2023 and Mohammed Shahabuddin, the outgoing 22nd President, took office in April 2023 and resigned in July 24, this year precipitating the present election.

Three popular mandates
Only three presidents have ever been chosen by direct national ballot. Ziaur Rahman won the country's first direct presidential poll on June 3, 1978 defeating General Ataul Gani Osmani, with after ten candidates ultimately contested from an initial field of eleven. Justice Abdus Sattar triumphed in the second direct election on November 15, 1981 against Awami League's Dr Kamal Hossain, from a field whittled down to 39 contestants after 33 withdrawals. The third and last direct election, on October 15, 1986, returned incumbent Ershad to office amid an opposition boycott and allegations of irregularity.

Parliament takes charge
The Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution in 1991 restored the parliamentary system and with it Article 48's provision for indirect presidential election by MPs. That October, BNP's Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League's Justice Badrul Haider Chowdhury 172 votes to 92 �" the only contested indirect election Bangladesh has known, and the sole occasion Parliament has actually voted for a President since. Every successor since �" Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, Professor AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, Professor Iazuddin Ahmed, Zillur Rahman, Abdul Hamid and Mohammed Shahabuddin were returned unopposed, the ruling party's parliamentary majority rendering the ballot a formality rather  than a contest. 

A rare rematch with democracy
The August 20 poll therefore carries unusual constitutional weight. Should the BNP field a candidate against Oli Ahmed, this would be only the second genuinely contested presidential election by the MPS in Bangladesh's history. Should only one nomination survive scrutiny, the Commission may still declare that candidate elected without a ballot, as has happened routinely since. Either way, with 350 MPs on the electoral roll and a special short session expected to be convened for the purpose, all eyes now turn to Agargaon and to Bangabhaban, as Bangladesh prepares to install its next Head of State against a backdrop of political recalibration following the events of 2024.