NEW DELHI, August 20. /TASS/. Politician Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been elected the 23rd president of Bangladesh following a parliamentary vote, The Times of India reported.

According to the newspaper, 255 members of parliament voted for Alamgir, the candidate from the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), while 88 voted for his opponent, Oli Ahmad, who was nominated by the opposition alliance.

This is the first time in 35 years that two candidates have been nominated in a Bangladeshi presidential election. The country’s last parliamentary-led presidential election took place in 1991.

The previous president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected head of state in 2023, resigned on July 24 due to health reasons. In accordance with the constitution, a new president was elected within 90 days through a parliamentary vote.

The president of Bangladesh is the head of state, but his powers are largely ceremonial. Executive authority is concentrated in the hands of the prime minister and the government. Typically, the president acts on the prime minister's and government's advice and does not make independent political decisions.