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The country's Parliament members will elect the 23rd President today. For the first time in 35 years, there is a contest for the post of President. A total of 349 MPs will be able to vote in the Parliament House from 2 pm to 5 pm. Ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is contesting against Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed. Colonel Oli Ahmed is the candidate of the 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

This is the first presidential election since October 8, 1991, in which there is more than one candidate, the Dhaka Tribune reported. In this 1991 election, BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League's Justice Badrul Haider Chaudhary. Since then, presidential elections have been held unopposed under the parliamentary system. There are 350 seats in the Parliament. These include 300 general seats and 50 reserved seats for women. Chittagong-4 seat is vacant. Therefore 349 MPs will be able to vote.

BNP has a clear majority in Parliament. Therefore, Mirza Fakhrul has the highest chances of victory. Article 70 of the Constitution is also important. Under this provision, an MP elected as a party candidate loses his membership if he votes in Parliament against the party that nominated him. Voting arrangements have been made in the main chamber of Parliament. The MPs will indicate their choice before casting their vote in the ballot box inside the chamber.

Voting will end at 5 pm. Counting of votes will start immediately after this. The Chief Election Commissioner will announce the result after counting. Voting and declaration of results will be telecast live. On the eve of the elections, the BNP parliamentary party held a meeting at the Parliament House on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting took place at 4 pm on the ninth floor of Parliament House. It was presided over by Prime Minister and House Leader Tariq Rehman. Candidate Mirza Fakhrul also attended this meeting. After this, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni said that this election will prove to be an important turning point in the country's democratic journey.

The system of electing the President in Bangladesh has changed several times since independence. The country's first presidential election under the parliamentary system was held in 1974. In this election, Parliament Speaker Mohammadullah was elected President. In 1978, 1981 and 1986, the President was elected by direct public vote. Zia-ur-Rehman won in 1978, Justice Abdus Sattar in 1981 and Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1986.

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