When Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned as president on July 24, the spotlight immediately shifted to who would succeed him at Bangabhaban.
Amid speculation, all the names that surfaced were linked to the ruling party, continuing a pattern that has persisted since independence.
Bangladesh has so far held 12 presidential elections -- three direct polls in which citizens voted and nine indirect ones in which MPs cast ballots. Of these indirect polls, eight were uncontested, with ruling party candidates elected unopposed.
The direct polls, held before parliamentary democracy was restored in 1991, were often criticised as rigged. Indirect elections under the parliamentary system, meanwhile, have become more ritual than contest.
Article 70, which bars MPs from voting against their party, along with open voting and parliamentary majorities, has reduced presidential elections to mere formalities in which opposition candidates rarely even enter the race.
The first presidential election, held on January 24, 1974, was indirect. Awami League candidate Mohammad Mohammadullah was elected unopposed.
The next presidential election -- the first direct one -- was held on June 3, 1978. Ziaur Rahman formed the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Front (Nationalist Front), a coalition of six parties, to contest as its candidate. His main rival was General MAG Osmani, commander‑in‑chief of the Bangladesh Forces during the Liberation War, who ran as the candidate of Gonotantrik Oikya Jote, a coalition of five parties including the Awami League.
Apart from Zia and Osmani, eight other candidates contested. According to Election Commission data and the book Bangladesher Nirbachon Bebostha o Folalfol edited by Nesar Amin, Zia won 77 percent of the vote, while Osmani received 22 percent.
Muhammad Yeahia Akhter, in his book “Electoral Corruption in Bangladesh”, wrote that there were allegations that the election was “rigged,” and the opposition candidate publicly asserted it was “grossly unfree and unfair.” He noted that political parties operated openly for the first time since the August 1975 coup, and Zia was successful in “legitimising” his position through a contested election.
Following Zia’s assassination on May 30, 1981, by a faction of army officers, vice president Abdus Sattar became acting president. Sattar contested the presidential election on November 15, 1981 as the BNP’s nominee and won. A total of 31 candidates contested, but his nearest rival was Awami League’s Dr Kamal Hossain. Sattar secured 66 percent of the vote, while Kamal received 26 percent.
Yeahia Akhter wrote that after the polls, the AL promptly accused the ruling party of “extensive poll‑rigging” and announced plans for demonstrations and nationwide protests. The BNP rejected the allegations, claiming their victory was a clear verdict in favour of continuing the process of democratisation and economic development initiated by Zia.
Sattar was later overthrown in a bloodless coup in March 1982 by Army Chief Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who assumed the presidency in 1983.
The third and last direct presidential election was held on October 15, 1986, boycotted by all major opposition parties, including BNP and AL. Ershad, running as the candidate of Jatiya Party formed earlier that year, faced 12 contenders. His nearest rival was Muhammadullah, commonly known as Hafezzi Hujur. Ershad won 84 percent of the vote, while Muhammadullah received 6 percent.
After Ershad’s fall in the wake of a mass uprising, Bangladesh returned to a parliamentary system in 1991. Since then, nine presidential elections have been held indirectly.
Lawmakers have voted only once in a contested presidential election. In October 1991, BNP nominee Abdur Rahman Biswas won with 172 votes against Awami League candidate and former chief justice Badrul Haider Chowdhury, who received 92.
All subsequent elections were uncontested, with ruling party candidates elected unopposed.
Awami League’s Shahabuddin Ahmed in 1996, BNP’s AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury in 2001, BNP’s Iajuddin Ahmed in 2002, Awami League’s Zillur Rahman in 2009, Awami League’s Abdul Hamid in 2013 and 2018, and Awami League’s Mohammed Shahabuddin in 2023, won the polls.
WHY THE RESULT IS CERTAIN
Article 48 (1) of the 1972 Constitution stated that the president would be elected by MPs in accordance with the Second Schedule of the Constitution that introduced a secret ballot system of voting. Paragraph (12a) even allowed for cancellation of a ballot if there was any sign of identification of the voter.
This gave MPs a certain liberty to vote for any candidate they preferred, although Article 70 barred lawmakers from voting against their party.
The Second Schedule was omitted through the Fourth Amendment of January 25, 1975, which shifted the country to a presidential system and introduced direct elections for the presidency.
After the 12th Amendment was passed in September 1991, parliamentary democracy was restored. Presidential elections returned to an indirect format, but open voting was introduced.
Since then, Article 70 has shaped the outcome of presidential elections.
“Since MPs are the ones who vote, Article 70 is one of the reasons there are no opposition winners and so many unopposed polls. As ruling parties must hold the majority, for opposition joining the presidential polls has little meaning,” said former Chittagong University professor and parliamentary affairs expert Nizam Ahmed.
Election expert Abdul Alim said open voting has reduced the process to a formality.
“If an MP votes against his party’s candidate, everyone will know. So even if he wants to vote for [anyone other than his party candidate] he is compelled to vote for his party nominee.
“The opposition knows it has no chance of winning. These elections are merely ornamental. Since there is no chance of victory, why would anyone become a candidate unnecessarily?” he added.
