BNP to announce presidential pick after meeting with Tarique
The BNP will formally announce its presidential candidate after the meeting, following which a party delegation will submit the nomination papers in line with the Election Commission’s schedule.
The ruling BNP will announce its candidate for president today (13 August) following a meeting between Prime Minister and party chief Tarique Rahman and senior party leaders.
The meeting is scheduled for 11:30am at the Prime Minister's Office in Tejgaon, with senior Cabinet members also expected to attend.
The BNP will formally announce its presidential candidate after the meeting. A party delegation will then submit the nomination papers in line with the Election Commission's schedule.
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Several members of the BNP Standing Committee had earlier said the party was likely to nominate its secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who also serves as the LGRD minister.
A BNP Standing Committee member told the daily Samakal that the prospective candidate's signature would be taken at the meeting, adding that a delegation would be sent to the Election Commission to submit the nomination form along with the signatures of the proposer and seconder.
BNP sources said the meeting might also discuss who would become the party's next secretary general and who would take charge of Fakhrul's ministry if he was nominated as the BNP's presidential candidate.
On 24 July, the country's 22nd president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, resigned citing health reasons.
Later, the Election Commission announced the election schedule on 6 August, setting 20 August as the polling date.
The Jamaat-e-Islami-led opposition alliance has already finalised Liberal Democratic Party Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmad as its candidate for the presidential election.
According to the Election Commission schedule, nomination papers can be submitted from 10am to 4pm today.
The nomination papers will be scrutinised on 16 August, while the deadline for withdrawal is 4pm on 18 August.
If there is more than one candidate, voting will be held in parliament from 2pm to 5pm on 20 August, where members of parliament will cast their votes.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, elected from the Thakurgaon-1 constituency, currently serves as the minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives.
