Bangladesh, Aug. 21 -- The government is evaluating the Opposition's participation in the presidential election through a "narrow" lens, Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad has claimed.

His party contested in the election, aware of the outcome in advance, to make its position clear to the public and press its case for democracy, he said in a statement on Friday.

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP's candidate and secretary general, was elected president on Thursday with 255 votes.

His rival, Oli Ahmed of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance, secured 88 votes.

Fakhrul's victory had been a foregone conclusion, with the Opposition's decision to field a candidate producing Bangladesh's first contested presidentia...