MP Rumeen Farhana boycotts vote, calls it ‘farce’

Independent lawmaker Rumeen Farhana, an expelled BNP leader, abstained from voting in the country's 23rd presidential election on Thursday, describing the poll as “meaningless” and a “farce” and arguing that its outcome had been determined in advance.

Voting began at 2:10pm and concluded at 5pm. Following the counting of votes, Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin officially declared BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir the country's 23rd president.

Of the 349 eligible voters, six lawmakers did not cast their ballots. They were BNP lawmakers Mirza Abbas, Mostafa Kamal Pasha and Dr Muhammad Osman Farruk; independent lawmaker Rumeen Farhana; Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Gazi Nazrul Islam; and Md Oli Ullah of Islami Andolan Bangladesh.

Explaining her decision to abstain, Rumeen Farhana cited three reasons. First, she said she considered the presidential election "meaningless" because there was uncertainty over its outcome.

"To me, the presidential election seemed meaningless as it is not really an election," she told the media. "Everyone already knew what the result would be. So why should it be called a vote? In that sense, it was a nomination, not an election."

As her second reason, Farhana questioned why political parties could not agree on an acceptable and non-partisan candidate for the presidency following what she described as a major mass uprising involving significant national sacrifices and aspirations.

"After such a major mass uprising, in which the nation's sacrifices and many dreams are involved, why could we not all come together and nominate a non-political and acceptable person as president?" she said.

Farhana described her third reason as the most important. She criticised the BNP's reported warning to lawmakers over Article 70 of the Constitution before the presidential vote, saying the party had previously advocated democratic reforms and greater political freedom under its Vision 2030 agenda.

"Before the vote for president, the BNP invoked the fear of Article 70 of the Constitution," she said. "Yet since 2016, the BNP has spoken loudly about Vision 2030. Now they are saying that if anyone votes outside the party line, their party membership will be cancelled. Why should I take part in such a farcical vote?"

Article 70 of Bangladesh's Constitution provides that a member of parliament elected as a nominee of a political party may lose their parliamentary seat if they resign from that party or vote against it in Parliament. A member whose seat becomes vacant may, however, contest a subsequent election.

The presidential election was held through a vote of members of Parliament, with 343 of the 349 eligible voters casting their ballots, while six lawmakers remained absent or abstained from voting.