Voting has started in the presidential election on Thursday after 35 years, with Members of Parliament to elect the country’s 23rd President through an open ballot.

The three-hour balloting began at 2pm in the session chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad which will continue till 5pm. A total of 349 MPs are eligible to cast their votes. BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and opposition Jamaat-led 11-party alliance contender Col (retd) Oli Ahmad are contesting the election.

With BNP holding an absolute majority in Parliament, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is widely expected to be elected as the country’s 23rd President.

At the beginning of the balloting, Acting President Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, acting Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal and presidential candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir cast their votes.

Acting President Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Acting Speaker Barrister Kayser Kamal cast vote at 2:10 pm, while Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at 2:11pm.

Under Article 70 of the Constitution, lawmakers, elected as candidates of political parties, will lose their seats if they vote for any candidate in this presidential election, going against their respective party’s decision.

The last contested presidential election was held on October 8, 1991, when BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League candidate Badrul Haider Chowdhury to become the country’s 11th President.

Abdur Rahman Biswas secured 172 votes, while Badrul Haider Chowdhury received 92.

Since then, no voting was required in the successive presidential elections as a single candidate was elected uncontested in each election.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, who is the election officer for the polls, is conducting the balloting and will announce the election result immediately after the vote count in  Parliament.

Then the Election Commission will publish the election result in an official gazette on Thursday.

On the other hand, Bangabhaban is making preparations to arrange the oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected President on Friday evening.

Each ballot paper has two parts — a counterfoil and the ballot portion. The counterfoil will contain three pieces of information and a blank space: the serial number, the name of the MP and the divisional number (constituency number) provided by the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat.

An MP needs to sign his or her full name in the designated space before receiving the ballot paper.

The names of the contesting candidates were printed on the right-hand side of the ballot paper in alphabetical order in Bangla. There is a designated space beside each candidate’s name where MPs need to sign their full names and cast their votes.

The MPs will then deposit their ballots into the designated ballot box.

Ballots will be accepted until 5:00pm, after which counting will begin.

A total of 349 MPs are voters in the presidential election as the Chattogram-4 parliamentary seat remains vacant.

The voters include 247 BNP lawmakers, 77 Jamaat MPs, eight NCP lawmakers, eight independent MPs, three Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis MPs, and one each from Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Ganosamhati Andolon, Khilafat Majlis, Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party.

BJP, Gono Odhikar Parishad and Ganosamhati Andolon are allies of the ruling BNP. The ruling camp has 250 lawmakers who are expected to vote for Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in this presidential election.

On the other hand, Jamaat, NCP, Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, Khilafat Majlis and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party are components of the 11-party opposition alliance. The opposition camp has 90 lawmakers in Parliament, who are expected to vote for Oli Ahmad.

On July 24 last, Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned as President and Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad took charge as the acting President.

According to Article 123(2) of the Constitution, an election to fill the vacant office of the President must be held within 90 days of the post becoming vacant due to resignation.