Presidential election today, oath tomorrow
Voting will take place for the first time in 35 years, with 349 MPs to elect the country’s 23rd president from BNP’s Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Col (retd) Oli Ahmad.
Voting in the presidential election is set to be held today (20 August) after 35 years, with members of parliament to elect the country's 23rd president through an open ballot.
The balloting will be held in the session chamber of Jatiya Sangsad from 2pm to 5pm. A total of 349 MPs are eligible to cast their votes.
Bangabhaban is making preparations to arrange the oath-taking ceremony for the newly elected president tomorrow evening.
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BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and opposition Jamaat-led 11-party alliance contender Col (retd) Oli Ahmad are contesting the election.
With BNP holding an absolute majority in parliament, Fakhrul is widely expected to be elected.
Under Article 70 of the Constitution, lawmakers elected as candidates of political parties will lose their seats if they vote for any candidate in this presidential election, going against their respective party's decision.
The High Court yesterday dismissed a writ petition seeking to make candidates who contested the latest national election eligible to vote in the presidential election, clearing the way for the scheduled vote.
A bench of Justice Razik-Al-Jalil and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury passed the order.
Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kajal, who represented the state, said there is now no legal impediment to holding the presidential election.
The last contested presidential election was held on October 8, 1991, when BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas defeated Awami League candidate Badrul Haider Chowdhury to become the country's 11th president.
Biswas secured 172 votes, while Badrul received 92.
Since then, no voting was required in the successive presidential elections as a single candidate was elected uncontested in each election.
Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, who is also the election officer for the presidential election, yesterday described the election as historic as it requires voting after 35 years since the competitive presidential polls in 1991.
Addressing a pre-election press conference in the city's Nirbachan Bhaban, he also expressed optimism that they will be able to conduct the polls in a nice manner. "We don't have any sort of deficit in our preparation," he said.
The CEC said the election result will be published in the official gazette today, hours after the balloting.
Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni yesterday also said Bangladesh is going to witness a historic moment with the voting in the presidential election.
