Topic: south-asia

Bangladesh holds its first contested presidential vote in 35 years

• Lawmakers in Dhaka voted by secret ballot on Thursday to choose a new head of state, the first time since 1991 that the largely ceremonial post has been contested.
• The ruling BNP's Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir faced 85-year-old war veteran Oli Ahmad, with the governing party's parliamentary majority making the outcome all but certain.