The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday declared the candidacies of BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the opposition Jamaat-led 11-party alliance contender Col (retd) Oli Ahmad valid for the upcoming presidential election scheduled to be held on August 20.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin, also the election officer, declared their nomination papers valid after the scrutiny at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the city's Agargaon area.

The nomination paper filed for Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmad was scrutinised and declared valid first, followed by that of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Leaders from both the ruling and opposition camps were present during the scrutiny.

EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed also confirmed that the nomination papers submitted for both candidates were found valid.

“Dr Oli Ahmad’s nomination paper was scrutinised in the morning and found to be in order. So, it was accepted. Later, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s nomination paper was also found to be in order. Now, both nomination papers are valid,” he told reporters after the scrutiny.

According to the election schedule, now the valid candidates will then be able to withdraw their nominations by 4pm on August 18.

If more than one candidate remains in the race, voting will be held in the session chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad from 2pm to 5pm on Thursday, August 20.

A total of 249 Members of Parliament are eligible to cast their votes.

In the presidential race to Bangabhaban, a total of three nomination papers were submitted, one for Mirza Fakhrul and two others for Oli Ahmad.

As the first nomination paper submitted for Oli Ahmad was found valid, the second one would automatically become invalid.

With BNP holding an absolute majority in parliament, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is widely expected to be elected as the country’s 23rd president

A BNP delegation, headed by BNP Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, was present during the scrutiny.

Other members of the delegation included BNP Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni and Whip Miah Nuruddin Ahmed Apu.

Gayeshwar Chandra said Abdul Moyeen Khan was the advocator of Mirza Fakhrul’s nomination, while he himself was the seconder.

“I am happy to inform you that our candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been declared a valid candidate for the election of the 23rd president of Bangladesh. We will now wait for the vote on August 20,” he told reporters.

Asked about the Jamaat-led alliance’s concern that the Article 70 of the Constitution could pose a major obstacle to the presidential election because it restricts MPs from voting against their party’s decision, Gayeshwar said the issue could be addressed later through parliament.

“That is the next chapter. If parliament considers it collectively, it can be done. Raising this question before the presidential election is irrelevant and may create confusion,” he said.

Earlier, Jamaat’s Dhaka-16 lawmaker Abdul Baten who led the 11-party alliance delegation during the scrutiny said they believe the Article 70 prevents MPs from exercising their independent right to vote in the presidential election.

“It would have been better if MPs could vote independently, but because of Article 70 of the Constitution, they cannot. We believe this is a major obstacle to the exercise of their free voting rights. We want this provision to be amended at any cost,” he said.

Noting that the alliance would not withdraw Oli Ahmad’s candidature, he said, “We submitted the nomination to participate in the election. The presidential election is being held after nearly 35 years, and we want democratic continuity to be maintained,” Baten said.