Published : 17 Aug 2026, 11:10 PM
Updated : 08 Sep 2026, 09:33 AM
A writ petition has been filed in the High Court seeking presidential voting rights for all national election candidates, whether they won or lost.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Saiful Alam Fuad, who ran for Dhaka-5 in the parliamentary polls, filed the petition in the public interest on Sunday.
The petition challenges the Election Commission's (EC) circular issued on Aug 6, alongside Section 2(Gha) of the Presidential Election Act, 1991.
The chief election commissioner and the secretaries of the Election Commission, Parliament Secretariat and law ministry are named as respondents.
The plea brands the Aug 6 circular “arbitrary, unreasonable and discriminatory”, arguing it strips candidates who secured direct public votes in the parliamentary election of any say in choosing the president, a move it says clashes with the democratic character of the republic guaranteed under Article 11 of the Constitution.
It further argues the circular draws an “unjustified, discriminatory” line between winning candidates and losing candidates who still secured direct votes, when it comes to taking part in the presidential election, in violation of the right to equality before law and equal protection guaranteed under Article 27.
Citing Article 26, the petition argues no statutory provision or administrative action can be enforced in a manner that curtails fundamental rights, and says the respondents overlooked the constitutional obligation to ensure meaningful participation of elected public representatives at every level of governance.
The petition points out that members of reserved women’s seats can vote in the presidential election despite not being directly elected by the public, while defeated candidates who receive direct votes are excluded.
It argues that even when a candidate does not win a parliamentary seat, the votes they receive represent democratic support from a section of the public.
The petitioner therefore sought cancellation of the relevant provision of the Presidential Election Act, 1991, or a limited interpretation of it to bring it in line with the Constitution.
He also sought a rule asking why the EC's Aug 6 election schedule circular should not be declared without legal authority and unlawful, and why Section 2(Gha) of the Presidential Election Act should not be declared inconsistent with the relevant constitutional provisions.
As an interim measure, the petition seeks an order allowing the petitioner and all other candidates who contested in the February polls to vote in the forthcoming presidential election.
Fuad told bdnews24.com that he was seeking voting rights for every candidate who contested in the general election.
He said the petition challenges the existing provision under which only members of parliament can vote in the presidential election.
“Why should only MPs vote to elect the president? The president is the head of the state. The presidential election should reflect the views of representatives of the wider population.”
The lawyer said voters had backed losing candidates as well as those who won the parliamentary polls, and every candidate in the latest election should therefore have the right to vote for president.
The number of votes a candidate received should not matter, he said, adding that a candidate who received 500 votes represented the views of 500 people, while even a candidate who received five votes represented the views of five people.
Fuad said he was challenging the provision in the 1991 law that allows only MPs to vote for the president.
On voting rights for members of reserved women's seats, he said challenging their existing voting arrangement was not the main issue in the petition.
His objection, he said, was that they can vote without being directly elected by the public, while losing candidates who received direct votes cannot.
“They can cast their votes, no problem. If they can vote the way they do, we should be allowed to vote too. That is my demand.”
The petition may be heard on Tuesday by a High Court bench led by Justice Razik-Al-Jalil, Fuad said.
