Presidential Election: Candidates Can Withdraw Candidacies Until 4pm Today

Candidates contesting the country’s 23rd presidential election have until 4pm today (Tuesday) to withdraw their nominations. The Election Commission (EC) will publish the final list of candidates after the deadline.

If more than one candidate remains in the race, voting will take place on Thursday, 20 August, in the session hall of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said voting will be held from 2pm to 5pm. After receiving their ballot papers, lawmakers will sign them and cast their votes in one of three designated ballot boxes.

Vote counting will begin immediately after polling closes at 5pm. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) will announce the number of valid votes out of 349 ballots, along with the votes secured by each candidate. The election results will subsequently be formally published in a gazette at the Secretariat.

Two candidates have submitted nomination papers for the presidency. The BNP has nominated its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, whose nomination was proposed by BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan and seconded by Goyeshwar Chandra Roy.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed has been nominated by the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami. His nomination was proposed by Dhaka-15 lawmaker and Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman and seconded by Narayanganj-4 lawmaker and NCP leader Abdullah Al Amin.

Following scrutiny on Sunday, 16 August, the EC declared the nominations of both Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Oli Ahmed valid.

Earlier, on 24 July, the country’s 22nd President Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned citing health reasons. His resignation prompted the Election Commission to begin the process of electing a new president.