PM Tarique casts his ballot alongside candidate Fakhrul in presidential election

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the Leader of the House, has cast his ballot in the presidential election, taking ruling party BNP's candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir along with him.

At 2:10pm on Thursday, the prime minister rose from his seat and walked towards the ballot box with Fakhrul, who was seated beside him.

A minute later, the parliamentary leader dropped his ballot into the box.

Lawmakers greeted Tarique by thumping their desks as he voted. 

Fakhrul then cast his own ballot, drawing another round of desk-thumping from ruling party members.

The BNP candidate then shook hands with lawmakers present, before exchanging greetings with Opposition leaders Shafiqur Rahman and Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher.

Voting formally opened at 2pm with a recitation from the Holy Quran. 

Before it began, Election Officer and Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin walked lawmakers through the voting procedure.

Acting President Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Acting Speaker Kayser Kamal were the first to vote, later shaking hands with Shafiqur Rahman and other lawmakers.

Hafiz Uddin also exchanged greetings with Tarique and Fakhrul before leaving the chamber, having spent around eight minutes there.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur cast his vote along with fellow Opposition lawmakers at 2:19pm.

Fakhrul is contesting in the election against Oli Ahmed, candidate of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance.

Since Oli is not a member of parliament, he has no vote to cast.

A total of 349 lawmakers are eligible to vote in the election. 

The last presidential vote held in the parliamentary chamber was on Oct 8, 1991.

This is only the second presidential election since 1991 to feature more than one candidate. 

As a result, voting has been organised this time in accordance with the requirements of the Presidential Election Act. 

In the seven elections held in the intervening period, a single candidate contested each time and was elected unopposed.

With the BNP having formed the government with a two-thirds majority and nominated Mirza Fakhrul as its presidential candidate, his election as Bangladesh’s 23rd president is considered a certainty, as lawmakers do not have the freedom to vote outside their party lines.