Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been elected the country's new president after defeating opposition Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-backed candidate Oli Ahmed.
Alamgir secured 255 votes against 88 for Ahmed, according to daily Prothom Alo. A total of 349 lawmakers, including Prime Minister, the opposition leader and 50 reserved women MPs, took part in the election.
The election was held after a gap of 35 years, with no opposition candidate having contested the largely ceremonial five-year presidency during that period. Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin presided over the election.
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The 78-year-old Alamgir, BNP's secretary general, is set to take oath as president on Friday, according to the Election Commission.
Alamgir emerged as the de facto leader of the BNP when its late chairperson Khaleda Zia was jailed and Tarique Rahman, then the party's acting chairman, remained in exile in the UK for 17 years, much of it during former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule.
Oli Ahmed, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, was the candidate of the 11-party opposition alliance and was backed by Jamaat. A former BNP leader and close aide of slain Bangladeshi President Ziaur Rahman, Ahmed left the BNP and later co-founded the Liberal Democratic Party in 2006.
The presidential election followed the resignation of Mohammed Shahabuddin, who served as president under Hasina's Awami League government. Shahabuddin resigned on July 24, citing health reasons, two years before the completion of his five-year term.
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Parliament Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed subsequently took over as interim president until the election of a new head of state.
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