Bangladesh will hold its presidential election on Thursday (August 19, 2026), with lawmakers set to choose between the ruling BNP stalwart Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 11-party Opposition alliance candidate Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed.
The voting will take place for the first time in a presidential election after a gap of 35 years.
The voting will be held at the Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) from 2:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. on August 20, according to the Election Commission.
Mr. Alamgir, 78, is the candidate of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), while Colonel (retd) Ahmed, Bir Bikram, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is contesting as the candidate of the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party opposition alliance.
The Election Commission declared their nomination papers valid on August 16.
Speaking at the BNP parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday, Mr. Alamgir appealed to the BNP lawmakers to vote for him in Thursday’s presidential election.
“If I have made any mistake or unintentionally hurt anyone during my tenure, I seek forgiveness,” said Mr. Alamgir, who has served as BNP’s senior joint secretary general, acting secretary general and secretary general.
Several lawmakers present at the meeting said the veteran leader became emotional and broke down in tears several times within a few minutes.
Mr. Alamgir pledged that he would never compromise on the country’s independence and sovereignty.
The president-elect will take the oath as Bangladesh’s new President on Friday evening at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban, The Daily Star reported, citing sources at the Secretariat and Parliament Secretariat.
The presidential election was necessitated after Mohammed Shahabuddin, a close aide of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned last month on health grounds before completing his five-year tenure.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who is also the BNP chairman, declared Mr. Alamgir, a longtime secretary general of the BNP and a close ally of former premier Khaleda Zia, as the ruling party’s presidential candidate.
Under the Constitution, a new President is required to be elected within 90 days of the office falling vacant.
Parliamentary Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad is currently serving as acting president, as required under the Constitution following a vacancy in the office.
The Constitution provides for the president to be elected by Parliament.
The BNP, which was voted to power in the February 12 elections, currently commands a two-thirds majority in Parliament, putting Mr. Alamgir in a strong position to secure the presidency.
If elected, Mr. Alamgir will become Bangladesh’s 23rd President. He has been one of the BNP’s most prominent leaders for more than two decades, having served as acting secretary general from 2011 before formally taking over the post in 2016.
He played a prominent role in leading the BNP during the imprisonment of its then-chairperson and former Prime Minister Zia and the absence of Rahman, who was abroad at the time.
The president is largely a ceremonial head of state under Bangladesh’s parliamentary system, with key constitutional powers, including appointing the Prime Minister and the chief justice.
Though the President is the supreme commander of the armed forces, those powers are generally exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister.
Political analysts, however, said the presidency could assume greater significance under the caretaker government system recently reintroduced to oversee general elections, when the president’s power would increase significantly in commanding the armed forces during such a period.
The analysts also opine that Mr. Alamgir’s nomination could be a well-calculated move of BNP, which in its election manifesto had promised to equip the president with more power by amending the Constitution.
An economist by training, Mr. Alamgir made his political debut as a left-leaning student activist when Bangladesh was still East Pakistan. Bangladesh was liberated from Pakistan with India’s help in 1971.
After joining the BNP in the early 90s, Mr. Alamgir served as State Minister for agriculture and civil aviation.
When the BNP returned to power in the February 12 elections this year, Mr. Alamgir was made the local government minister.
Published – August 19, 2026 10:35 pm IST
