Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General and Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is set to become the country’s next president.
Multiple high-level BNP sources have confirmed to Prothom Alo that party chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has finalised his nomination.
The sources also said that a presidential candidate is required to submit either a consent signature on the nomination paper or a written statement expressing his consent to contest the election. Mirza Fakhrul reportedly signed such a statement last Saturday.
Under the Presidential Election Act, a candidate must submit, along with the nomination paper proposed and seconded by members of parliament, a signed declaration or statement confirming that he agrees to contest the election and take up the responsibilities of the office.
Meanwhile, the opposition alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami has announced that it will contest the presidential election with Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmad as its candidate.
With Mirza Fakhrul’s election as president candidate appearing almost certain, the question of who will become the BNP’s next secretary general has also come to the fore.
Against the backdrop of Mirza Fakhrul’s expected nomination, Prothom Alo spoke yesterday, Sunday, to several senior BNP leaders close to the prime minister and to the party leadership.
Almost all of them said it was highly likely that Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir would be the BNP’s presidential candidate, although the party has not yet made any official announcement.
Earlier, at a meeting of the BNP’s policymaking National Standing Committee on 2 August, party chairman Tarique Rahman was given responsibility for selecting the party’s presidential candidate.
According to the election schedule announced by the Election Commission (EC), voting for president will take place on Thursday, 20 August. Nomination papers can be submitted from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on 13 August.
The ruling BNP has already formally begun preparations for the presidential election. The party collected two nomination papers from the Election Commission yesterday morning.
BNP vice-chairman and Chief Whip of Parliament Nurul Islam Moni and Senior Joint Secretary General and Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Ruhul Kabir Rizvi collected the nomination papers from the Chief Election Commissioner’s office. The fact that the party collected two nomination papers has generated curiosity in political circles.
According to EC sources, more than one nomination paper can be submitted in the name of the same person for the presidency. In that case, the candidate will be considered valid if any one of the nomination papers is found valid.
The same happened during the presidential election of outgoing president Mohammed Shahabuddin, when two nomination papers were submitted in his name. Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned on 24 July, leaving the presidency vacant. Since then, Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed has been serving as acting president.
Under the Constitution and the Presidential Election Act, 1991, a presidential election must be held within 90 days of the office becoming vacant.
Who will be the BNP’s next secretary general?
As the possibility of Mirza Fakhrul Islam becoming president becomes increasingly clear, the question of who will succeed him in one of the BNP’s most important organisational posts—the secretary general’s post—is also gaining prominence. He has held the post for nearly 16 years.
Mirza Fakhrul became the BNP’s acting secretary general in 2011. He was formally appointed secretary general at the party’s national council in 2016. Over the years, he has emerged as one of the BNP’s top leaders. In particular, he led the party throughout the periods when its two principal leaders, Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman, were respectively imprisoned and in exile in London. During the Awami League government’s tenure, he was imprisoned six times. He led the party amid various forms of repression and adversity under the previous government and became known as a widely accepted leader in politics.
Now, if Mirza Fakhrul becomes president, two names have been discussed more frequently within the party over the past several days as possible successors. One is Standing Committee member and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed. The other is Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
Sources within the BNP said the party may initially appoint an acting secretary general before or around the time of the national council. A final decision could then be taken at or around the national council.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi did not contest the parliamentary election and was not included in the cabinet. Therefore, some senior party leaders believe he is more likely to be appointed acting secretary general if the post falls vacant.
Oli Ahmad, the opposition candidate
The 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the main opposition party in parliament, has nominated Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmad, a former senior BNP leader and currently chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), as its candidate for president.
Nahid Islam, Chief Whip of the opposition and convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), announced the decision yesterday, Sunday, after a meeting of the alliance’s top leaders at the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition on Minto Road.
Explaining why the alliance had decided to field a separate presidential candidate, Nahid Islam said the BNP had shown reluctance toward the July Charter and state reforms.
According to him, the party was proceeding in much the same way as previous governments. It had been expected that the presidential election would be conducted through reforms based on the July Charter, but the BNP had taken no initiative in that regard.
Had the BNP pursued reforms, the ruling and opposition parties could have jointly nominated a single candidate for president. Since it did not do so, the 11-party alliance decided to nominate its own candidate.
People familiar with politics do not consider the opposition’s decision to contest the presidential election, or the nomination of Oli Ahmed, to be particularly surprising. Even before the national election, there had been speculation that Oli Ahmed would be made president if the Jamaat-led alliance came to power. Yesterday’s decision is being viewed as a reflection of that earlier discussion.
Oli Ahmed was also present at yesterday’s meeting of the 11-party alliance on the presidential election. He later joined the press conference and expressed gratitude to the alliance for nominating him.
Oli Ahmed said, “As a freedom fighter and a tested individual, against whom there are no allegations of corruption or questions regarding educational qualifications, and having lived my life honourably, I am grateful that everyone unanimously proposed my name.” He added that by finalising his candidacy, the 11-party alliance wanted to send a message to the people that Colonel Oli was worthy of serving as the country’s guardian. He said participating in the presidential election itself was an important message.
Several senior Jamaat leaders said that despite knowing that defeat was certain, they wanted to contest the election in order to send a political message. That message, they said, was to demonstrate that Jamaat and the other opposition parties constitute an effective opposition and to make their presence visible. In that context, the opposition parties considered it preferable to keep their 90 members active and engaged in the election rather than remain silent or support the ruling party’s candidate.
Asked about Jamaat’s decision to field a presidential candidate, Jamaat Amir and Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman said, “We believe politics should be transparent and competitive in every sphere. That will help democracy regain momentum. We have taken this as our responsibility for the beauty of democracy.”
Jamaat Nayeb-e-Amir Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher told Prothom Alo yesterday, “We believe this election will strengthen the democratic process between the government and the opposition. Some people are now talking about the role of the opposition in parliament. Jamaat is moving away from the culture of confrontation and creating space for constructive opposition and criticism in a civilised manner. People will understand this eventually. This election can be seen as an example of that.”
How the presidential election will be held
Under the law, the president will be elected through an open vote by members of parliament. Each MP will have one vote. The Election Commission will prepare the necessary number of ballot papers in advance. Each ballot paper will have two sections. The counterfoil will contain space for the voter’s name and signature.
The outer foil of each ballot paper, where the vote is cast, will contain the names of the presidential candidates in alphabetical order. The MP, as the voter, will cast the vote by signing his or her full name beside the candidate’s name.
When the ruling party has a clear majority in parliament, the opposition usually does not nominate a candidate for president because there is little chance of its candidate winning even if a vote is held.
Under Article 70 of the Constitution, an MP loses his or her parliamentary seat if they vote against their party.
Since the parliamentary system of democracy was introduced in Bangladesh in 1991, voting for president has taken place only once. That was in 1991. In the parliamentary election held that year, no party won an outright majority. The BNP won 140 seats, while the Awami League won 88. The BNP formed the government with the support of Jamaat-e-Islami. The opposition Awami League nominated a presidential candidate that time. BNP candidate Abdur Rahman Biswas won the election with 172 votes.
Since then, no opposition party has nominated a presidential candidate. As a result, there was no need for a vote. This time, the BNP has a two-thirds majority in parliament. Nevertheless, the opposition has decided to field a candidate. If the opposition candidate remains in the race, voting for president will take place in parliament on 20 August.
The Election Commission has already begun preparations for the vote. On the day the election schedule was announced, it published a list of 349 voters, including the breakdown of voters by party.
EC sources said that initially they had expected that a vote would not be necessary. However, with the opposition announcing a candidate, the EC now has to arrange the voting. The commission held an informal meeting yesterday afternoon to discuss matters including ballot printing and election management.
According to the schedule, the deadline for withdrawing candidacies is 18 August. If more than one candidate remains after that, the EC will print the ballot papers.
There is no requirement for a session of parliament to be in progress for a presidential election. The Presidential Election Act states that if a presidential election is required outside a parliamentary session, the Election Commission will determine the voting date after consulting the speaker. MPs will be called to a meeting on the day of voting, which will be presided over by the Chief Election Commissioner.
Overall, this presidential election is not merely a formal exercise to choose a new head of state. If Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir becomes president, a new political equation will emerge within the BNP over who will take over the long-standing post of secretary general. At the same time, the opposition alliance’s decision to nominate Oli Ahmed despite knowing the size of the ruling party’s majority has given the presidential election added political significance.