Mirza Fakhrul Islam... President of Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s parliament has elected Mirza Fakhrul Islam, a senior leader of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as the country’s new president. The Election Commission announced that Fakhrul Islam, 78, won the presidential vote held in parliament with 255 votes, marking the first competitive presidential election in 35 years.

Fakhrul Islam defeated his rival, former army officer Oli Ahmed, who received 88 votes. Ahmed was backed by an opposition coalition of 11 parties led by the Jamaat-e-Islami party and the Jatiya Nari party, which is the country’s first major political party led by a student movement.

A total of 343 members of parliament participated in the voting under close supervision by election commissioners. This is the first election in 35 years in which more than one candidate competed for the presidency in Bangladesh, as opposition parties had not fielded candidates in previous elections, leaving only a single candidate on the ballot.

Fakhrul Islam’s election followed his nomination by the BNP for the presidential race last week. The vote came after the resignation of former President Mohammad Shahabuddin, who had been elected in 2023 as a candidate of the Awami League, the party of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Shahabuddin resigned midway through his term for health reasons, before completing his five-year mandate.