Presidential election: BNP yet to finalise candidate, Jamaat meeting Saturday

The Election Commission (EC) has announced the schedule for the presidential election. According to the schedule announced on Thursday, voting will take place on 20 August. Preparations for the election will proceed only if both the ruling party and the opposition nominate separate candidates. If the opposition does not field a candidate, voting may not be necessary at all.

Under the announced schedule, nomination papers for the presidency may be submitted on 13 August between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. It will become clear that day whether voting will be required. Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on 16 August. If there is only one candidate, the EC will declare that person elected president on the same day.

Under the Constitution, only members of parliament are eligible to vote in the presidential election. The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) holds an overwhelming majority in the current Jatiya Sangsad, making its nominee almost certain to become the country's next president. However, the BNP has not yet finalised its candidate.

Meanwhile, the main opposition in parliament, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as the National Citizen Party (NCP) and other opposition parties, have the opportunity to nominate candidates. However, opposition party sources said none of them, including Jamaat-e-Islami, has yet decided whether to field a presidential candidate.

Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned as president on 24 July. Since then, Speaker of Parliament Hafiz Uddin Ahmad has been performing the duties of acting president. Under the Constitution, a new president must be elected within 90 days of the resignation.

At a meeting of the BNP's highest policymaking body, the national standing committee, last Saturday, responsibility for selecting the party's presidential nominee was entrusted to party chairperson and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. There is considerable interest, both within the BNP and elsewhere, over who will become the country's next president.

Several senior BNP leaders are being discussed as potential candidates. Among them is party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. The names of Nazrul Islam Khan, Abdul Moyeen Khan and Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain have also been mentioned. Some within the BNP are also considering acting president Hafiz Uddin Ahmad as a possible candidate.

According to BNP sources, the party is considering factors such as age, physical condition, and where each individual would be most needed within the party and the government. After weighing all these considerations, the list of potential candidates has become shorter than before.

If Mirza Fakhrul is elected president, the BNP and the government would have to make several organisational changes. He would have to step down as minister for local government, rural development and cooperatives. The party would also need to appoint a new secretary general.

Under the Constitution, if Mirza Fakhrul assumes the presidency, the Thakurgaon-1 parliamentary seat, from which he was elected, would also become vacant, requiring a by-election.

Meanwhile, party sources said Jamaat-e-Islami, the main opposition in parliament, has not yet taken a decision on the presidential election. The party's highest policymaking forum, the central executive council, is scheduled to meet tomorrow, Saturday. The party's position on the presidential election may be finalised there.

Jamaat leaders said the party is considering three options: boycotting the election, fielding its own candidate, or supporting a candidate from another party. One of these options may be chosen at Saturday's meeting.

Hamidur Rahman Azad, assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, told Prothom Alo on Thursday night that the party had not yet reached a decision on the presidential election. He said the matter could be discussed, and a decision taken, at the next meeting of the party's executive council.