In tears, Fakhrul bids farewell to BNP
Bangladesh goes to the polls today to elect its 23rd new president, but the outcome is all but decided before a single vote is cast.
Article 70 of the Constitution, which strips lawmakers of their seats if they vote against their party in Parliament, ensures that the ruling BNP’s nominee, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, will win regardless of who else enters the race — a consequence of the party’s two-thirds majority in the House.
The clause was originally written to prevent floor-crossing, but critics say it has an unintended side effect: in a Parliament where one party commands a dominant majority, votes for high offices such as the presidency become formalities rather than genuine contests, since no lawmaker can break ranks without losing their seat.
The election was triggered by the resignation of President Mohammed Shahabuddin on July 24, reportedly on health grounds.
The Election Commission subsequently set today, August 20, as polling day, with nomination papers due by 4pm last Thursday, scrutiny held on August 16, and the withdrawal deadline passing on August 18.
BNP’s nomination
The BNP’s Standing Committee met last Thursday and, with final approval from party Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, formally nominated Secretary General and LGRD Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as its presidential candidate.
Fakhrul, 78, who had served as BNP secretary general since 2016, stepped down from both that post and his ministerial position immediately after receiving the nomination — a move confirmed by Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
The opposition has also fielded a candidate. After Shahabuddin’s exit, the 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami named Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmad to contest the post, though his prospects remain purely symbolic given the arithmetic in Parliament.
An emotional farewell
Ahead of the vote, Fakhrul appeared before BNP’s parliamentary party at a session in the National Parliament building on Wednesday, where he grew visibly emotional and broke down in tears while delivering his farewell remarks as outgoing secretary general.
He paid tribute to the party’s late chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and to its founder and former president, Ziaur Rahman, and thanked Chairman Tarique Rahman for the trust placed in him.
Reflecting on his years as joint secretary general, acting secretary general and secretary general, Fakhrul apologised for any mistakes made during his tenure and said he would safeguard the honour bestowed on him by the party “even at the cost of his life,” adding that he would not compromise on the country’s independence and sovereignty.
He said he would miss his colleagues after moving to Bangabhaban, the presidential residence, and appealed to party lawmakers for their prayers and their votes.
Tarique Rahman’s message
Presiding over the roughly ninety-minute meeting, which began at 2pm, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman urged party lawmakers to vote for Fakhrul.
He also used the occasion to press a broader organisational point, telling MPs that sustained democratic progress would require accountability to be established across the machinery of the state — a principle he said everyone must bear in mind.
Rahman spoke at length about Fakhrul’s decades of association with the party, recalling that he had held the party together through difficult periods with what Rahman described as immense courage, including a period of imprisonment, at a time when Rahman himself was living outside the country.
With the local government elections also approaching, Rahman cautioned lawmakers to preserve party unity and avoid letting a distance grow between MPs and grassroots workers, according to multiple sources present at the meeting.
Before Fakhrul spoke, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni delivered welcoming remarks in which he walked lawmakers through the voting procedure for the presidential election and appealed for votes in Fakhrul’s favour. He also confirmed that Fakhrul himself would cast a vote in Thursday’s election, and noted that Fakhrul’s Thakurgaon-3 constituency seat would fall vacant once he is elected president and assumes office.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin said on Wednesday that the Election Commission (EC) had completed all necessary preparations to hold Thursday’s presidential election smoothly and orderly.
“We’ve completed all the preparations required for the presidential election. There is no shortfall in our preparations.
We are receiving cooperation from everyone involved in the election and believe that we will be able to conduct a good election,” he told journalists at his office at the Election Commission building in the capital’s Agargaon.
