Neither of the two candidates contested the presidential election has withdrawn their candidature within the stipulated time. As a result, according to the schedule, voting for the post of President will be held on Thursday, August 20th. BNP candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party Oikya candidate Ali Ahmed are contesting the election.
Tuesday (August 18th) was the deadline for withdrawal of nominations until 4pm. After the deadline, Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat, said neither of the two candidates withdrew their candidatures. As a result, a direct vote will be held between the two candidates on Thursday.
Thirty-five years after the presidential
The last presidential election was held in Bangladesh in 1991. In the last thirty-five years, seven presidents have been elected unopposed. The opposition did not field any candidate in these elections as the ruling party was the only candidate.
Thirty-five years later, the presidential election is being held again. The general public will not vote directly in the presidential election; the members of the parliament will vote.
The House of Representatives will vote
EC secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the vote will be held in the parliament house of the parliament from 2pm to 5pm on Thursday. At the beginning of the day, Chief Election Commissioner and Election Officer AMM Nasir Uddin will direct the MPs about the voting process.
The ballot paper will be prepared today. The names of the contesting candidates on the ballot paper will be arranged according to the actixes of the Bengali alphabet. The voter will have to vote for the candidate of their choice by signing his full name in the designated place. The ballot must then be submitted to the designated box.
The color of the paper will be black printed on white. At the end of the voting, ballots will be counted in the House of Parliament and the election official will announce the results there. The results of the election will be published in the gazette.
349 Members of Parliament
The total number of members, including reserved women seats in the National Assembly, is 350. However, the decision of BNP MP Aslam Chowdhury’s membership in the court was rejected by the court, a total of 349 MPs in the presidential election.
The current parliament has more than two-thirds of the BNP’s majority. On the other hand, there are 90 members of the Jamaat-led alliance.
According to Article 70 of the Constitution, members of parliament cannot vote against the party’s decision. There is a provision to vacancy of the membership of the parliament if it goes beyond the party’s decision. As a result, the victory of the party’s candidate Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is certain because of the BNP’s strong majority in parliament. However, there are two candidates who have to vote according to the rules.
Elections after the vacancy of the President
He resigned from the post of President on July 24. Sahabuddin. According to the constitution, the new presidential election must be completed within ninety days of the vacancy of the President’s post. The Election Commission has fixed the date for voting on August 20th in accordance with the constitutional deadline.