United News of Bangladesh

Speculation over the BNP’s presidential nominee will end on Thursday, as its Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to meet the party’s Standing Committee members to make the final decision, with nomination papers for the presidential election scheduled to be submitted from 10am to 4pm that day. Several BNP leaders said the party’s candidate will be known after the meeting, scheduled for 12 noon, just hours before the nomination deadline expires at 4pm. They, however, indicated that BNP Secretary General and Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is likely to get the ruling party’s nomination for the presidency. The BNP’s formal announcement may come around 12:30pm after the Standing Committee meeting, they said. Earlier on August 10, the BNP Standing Committee entrusted its Chairman Tarique Rahman with the responsibility of nominating the party’s candidate for the presidential election. Since then, speculation has intensified that Mirza Fakhrul would be the BNP nominee for the country’s top constitutional post. A Standing Committee member said, “The name of the person who will be the presidential candidate will be known at the meeting with the chairman on Thursday.” He said the prospective candidate’s signature will be obtained at the meeting and a delegation will then be sent to the Election Commission for submitting the nomination paper along with the signatures of the proposer and seconder. Meanwhile, the 11-party opposition alliance, led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, has named Liberal Democratic Party Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmad as its candidate for the presidential election. Both the ruling and opposition camps have collected nomination papers for their respective aspirants. Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, who is serving as the returning officer for the presidential election, has already convened a meeting of MPs at the session chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on August 20 for voting in accordance with the Presidential Election Act, 1991. According to the election schedule announced by the EC on August 6, nomination papers will be scrutinised on August 16, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is August 18. Voting will take place from 2pm to 5pm on August 20 at the session chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad. A total of 349 MPs are eligible to vote in the presidential election, with the Chattogram-4 parliamentary seat currently vacant. This will be the first presidential election in 35 years involving more than one candidate, making it the first contested presidential election since the restoration of the parliamentary system in 1991. On July 24, Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned as President, following which Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad assumed charge as acting President. Under Article 123(2) of the Constitution, an election to fill a vacant presidential office must be held within 90 days of the post becoming vacant due to resignation.