Published: 08:59 AM, 21 August 2026
Why six MPs skip presidential election
Six members of parliament (MPs) including three lawmakers from the ruling BNP did not cast their ballots in the presidential election held on Thursday. The MPs who did not vote are BNP's Mirza Abbas, Osman Faruk, and Mostafa Kamal Pasha; expelled Jamaat leader Gazi Nazrul Islam; Khelafat Majlis leader Abul Hasan; and independent MP Rumeen Farhana, according to the Parliament Secretariat and the Election Commission.
According to parliamentary secretariat sources, Mirza Abbas, the MP from Dhaka-8 and a BNP Standing Committee member, had informed the speaker in writing that he would be unable to vote as he was abroad for medical treatment. Mustafa Kamal Pasha was also unable to attend the election as he is sick and currently abroad. The reason why Osman Faruk did not vote was not immediately known. Gazi Nazrul Islam was expelled from Jamaat after a controversial video involving him surfaced on social media.
Khelafat Majlis Secretary General Ahmad Abdul Kader told the media that their leader Abul Hasan could not cast his vote in the presidential election as he is currently in the UK. Explaining her decision to abstain, Rumeen Farhana said that she considered the presidential election "meaningless" and "a farce" because its outcome was never in doubt.
"When there is no uncertainty about the outcome, it is not an election. It is a nomination," she said.
