Presidential polls tomorrow

Bangladesh will elect its 23rd president tomorrow, with the country holding a contested presidential poll for the first time since 1991.

Former BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmed are contesting the race after neither withdrew his candidacy by the 4pm deadline on Tuesday, Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said. Voting will take place from 2pm to 5pm at the session hall of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, he said.

“We will print the ballot papers and take them to the parliament building on the election day. The ballot papers will have black printing on white paper,” Akhtar Ahmed said, adding that preliminary results would be announced immediately after voting ends.

“We will see how quickly we can publish the results. Our overall preparations have been completed.”

A total of 349 members of parliament will cast their votes. The Chattogram-4 constituency remains vacant after the elected candidate’s candidature was cancelled following a court order.

Mirza Fakhrul is the BNP’s nominee, proposed by party Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan and seconded by leader Goyeshwar Chandra Roy. Oli Ahmed is contesting as the candidate of the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami, with his nomination proposed by Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman, MP for Dhaka-15, and seconded by NCP leader Abdullah Al Amin, MP for Narayanganj-4.

The EC declared both candidates’ nomination papers valid following scrutiny on 16 August. The election follows the resignation of 22nd President Mohammed Shahabuddin on 24 July, citing health reasons. The EC announced the election schedule on 6 August.

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, who is also Chief Election Officer for the presidential election, will announce the number of valid votes and the votes secured by each candidate.

In a separate development on Tuesday, the High Court rejected a writ petition seeking suspension of the presidential election schedule and challenging the constitutional validity of Article 70, clearing the way for the election to proceed as scheduled. A bench of Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury and Justice AFM Saiful Karim passed the order, saying there was no substance in the petition.

The court observed that the schedule for the presidential election had been legally declared under the Presidential Election Act, 1991. It also said the special parliamentary committee formed to deal with constitutional amendments may decide on Article 70 of the Constitution.

After the order, Attorney General Barrister Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal said there was no legal bar to holding the presidential election. The details of the order will be known after the full text is released.